


With the Rising Sun

by EryiScrye (SomberSecrets)



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Awkward First Time, F/M, Fake Dating, Humour, Romance, and I do apologize for this, but are they really? - Freeform, but it’s all part of the idiots part of idiots to lovers, idiots to lovers, the dumbassery is dialed to high, what is a POV?, you’re all going to have to identify with Hyle for a bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:02:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 22,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28298682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomberSecrets/pseuds/EryiScrye
Summary: The Long Night Brienne was Jaime's fake girlfriend, the Long Night Jaime was Brienne's fake boyfriend, and the Long Night they realized that faking it two years in a row sends a very particular (albeit true though they don't know it yet) message out to the world.
Relationships: Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth
Comments: 159
Kudos: 323
Collections: JB Festive Festival Exchange 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [brynnmck](https://archiveofourown.org/users/brynnmck/gifts).



> Brynn, I loved all your prompts so much (fake dating, there was only one bed, light in the darkness) that I had to do them not once, not twice, but thrice. I'll be posting the next two chapters in the next couple of days. I hope you enjoy! Happy Chillfest <3
> 
> Thank you so LewisPanda and Nire for betaing and thank you to Slips for organizing this most Chilly Chillfest!

Brienne looked up from her notes when she heard a knock on her door frame. Seeing that it was Jaime casually draping himself by her door, she immediately asked, “What do you want?”

“Why do you think I want anything?” he asked, slinking into the room as though gauging her permission. She gave him a pointed look. He sighed, returned to his normal intrusive behaviour, and threw himself on her bed. Hugging her giant bear pillow, he placed his chin between its ears and stared at her meaningfully. “If I recall correctly, you told us before exams that you’re not going home for the Long Night this year, right?”

Brienne’s eyes narrowed. “No. Dad’s decided to go to Essos for the holidays and my siblings have taken the opportunity to scatter to the winds.” She tapped her pen on her desk in irritation. “No loyalty, those traitors.”

“So you were just going to stay here and house sit, right?”

“Just spit it out, Jaime. What do you want?” Brienne growled, “Not all of us have finished our exams and I need to cram.”

“You never cram, you’re reviewing your notes for the fourth time, like a madwoman.” He rolled on her bed until he half tumbled far too elegantly off the other side and sat perched at the edge, leaning close to her now. If the bear in his arms hadn’t been in the way, he probably would have propped his chin on her shoulder instead. “The maddest… smartest… most organized… and cleverest woman I know.”

Brienne narrowed her eyes at him and leaned away. “Wow, you want something _big_.”

“Do you want me to make you a mug of hot chocolate? With three, big, fluffy marshmallows, dark chocolate shavings, and a dash of cinnamon?” He _fluttered_ his eyelashes at her, the scoundrel.

“Whose body do you need my help to bury? Couldn’t you have killed them when there wasn’t snow and ice on the ground?”

“Nothing like that.”

Brienne continued to stare at him suspiciously. He continued to give her his wide eyed, most pleading stare. Wrinkling her nose in irritation, she said slowly, “I _would_ really like that mug of hot chocolate, though.”

“Done. I’ll make it for you now.” He grinned and stood up with a flourish. He placed her bear back on her bed and fluffed it back to its rotund shape.

“What did I just agree to, Jaime Lannister?” Brienne shouted as he practically skipped out of the door.

“To be my date for the Long Night!” His voice echoed down the hall.

“Excuse me, what?” she shouted louder.

She got no reply.

She faced Barty, her bear.

“What?”

He didn’t reply either.

* * *

It was mildly infuriating that Jaime knew her so well. As promised, because otherwise the deal would have been null and void, he had delivered to her the perfect giant mug of hot chocolate, a bargaining chip he never failed to utilize when it came to getting what he wanted from her. Then, he had run away to his room knowing that she wouldn’t chase and throttle him until the end of her last exam at least.

Now that she was finished, though…

She threw open the house door and furiously removed her scarf and winter boots.

“He’s in his room,” Elia told her when she marched past the living room.

“Thanks!”

“Remember, murder is against the law, Tarth,” Hyle added from the kitchen doorway, a smirk on his face.

“The rules don’t apply to Lannisters,” Brienne spat out as she charged up the stairs. Undoubtedly, he had heard her approach because when she got to his room and threw open the door - she had broken the lock months ago - he already had one leg out the window. “You’ll get frostbite without boots on,” she growled in warning.

Jaime wiggled the socked foot that was still extended out into the cold, his gaze flickering to her face. “I might still risk it.”

“Get back in here, you idiot.”

“You _do_ know how to charm a man, Jellyfish.” He pulled himself fully back inside anyways and shut his window. “I’m cold,” he complained quite pathetically, wrapping his arms around himself and shivering.

Brienne rolled her eyes, but grabbed the knitted blanket she had bought for him last Long Night - for these exact kinds of ridiculous situations, as it wasn’t the first time Jaime had contemplated climbing out of his window to escape her wrath - and bundled him up before dragging him to sit on his bed so she could interrogate him.

Jaime sat there, making his best impression of a sad puppy, but she would not be deterred. “What do you _mean_ I’m your date for the Long Night?”

“I don’t understand what you don’t understand. I feel that you have it perfectly clear.”

“You’re going home for the Long Night.”

Jaime nodded, “And I’m inviting you to come to the Rock _with_ me… as my date.” Brienne gave him a hard look. He threw his hands up in the air dramatically, “Oh, come on, Jellyfish, even the Rock is better than hanging out here by yourself.”

“Your stories about that place have convinced me otherwise.”

Jaime kept talking, as though his past self hadn’t shot his present self in the foot. “Most people on campus will be gone, most shops will be closed for the holidays, the house didn’t burn down last year when we all dispersed so you can’t use the advent of a disaster as a legitimate excuse. Plus, if it did have the propensity to spontaneously combust, we shouldn’t be living here anyways. Cheap rent wouldn’t be worth living with Hyle fucking Hunt _and_ suddenly being set aflame.”

“Hyle’s not _that_ bad.”

“Further proof that you need to get out of this place, the mold in the ceiling is messing with your brain.”

“Why not ask Elia?”

“Well, for one, she had plans for the Long Night, unlike some people I know. Ow!” Jaime rubbed at the shoulder Brienne had punched. “You _don’t_ have plans! And two, there’s some history there.”

Brienne’s eyes widened, “Oh, I didn’t--”

Jaime waved her next words away, “Not between me and her, Jellyfish. We’ve only ever been friends. It’s all very asinine, she dated a guy that my sister had her eyes on and although they broke up after a month or two - I don’t remember the exact details, it was a thing - she’s been in my sister’s burn book ever since.”

“Yikes. Does Cersei actually have a burn book?”

Jaime looked at her as though she had asked a truly foolish question. “Some helpful advice to get you through celebrating the Long Night at the Rock in one piece: don’t get into Cersei’s burn book.”

Brienne rolled her eyes. “Why do you even need a date?”

Here, Jaime grimaced. “Aunt Genna helpfully informed me that my father is planning on inviting several young, single women to spend the holidays with us this year unless I bring my uh... own woman with me.” Brienne gave him a very unimpressed look. “Her words, not mine. Anyways, the Rock is miserable enough as it is. I don’t want to spend the holidays hiding from the type of women my father would approve of, too. You know how it is.”

Brienne gave a sympathetic sigh, “I do.”

Jaime gave her a pitying look. “Right, your dad tried to set you up last year.”

Brienne buried her face in her hands. “Gods, it was awful. He was nice and seemed to genuinely like me, but he just gave me the creeps. Like, if I accidentally looked at him the wrong way he would take it as a signal that I wanted him to carry me off and… and have his way with me or something.” Jaime’s nose wrinkled in disgust. “I clung onto Galladon for dear life all five of those days and then at the end Alys and Ari showed me this coffee commercial and--”

Jaime patted her on the head, then lifted one side of his blanket to welcome her into its warmth. “If I had known that your dad was going to ambush you like that, I would have tried to help you. Any way I could.”

Brienne sighed, shuffled to his side, and snuggled into him. “I’ll be your date for the Long Night.”

He sighed in relief and hugged her tight. After a beat a thought occurred to him, “Wait… is that commercial the reason why you suddenly went from being obsessed with coffee to being obsessed with hot chocolate?”

* * *

They took the early morning River Road Express Train from Riverrun to Casterly Rock.

“I cannot believe that your _house_ has its own train station,” Brienne muttered as she shoved her suitcase in the shelf above her seat, then made a grab at Jaime’s.

“I cannot believe you booked us on the first train,” Jaime grumbled, still half asleep. His clothes and general disposition looked rumpled as though he had just rolled out of bed, but perhaps it was because Brienne had forced him into an early morning jog over ice and snow with all of their luggage. Brienne gave him a pointed look and he slid into the seat by the window. “What can I say, when you’re rich,” he yawned. “You’re rich.”

Brienne shifted their bags around a little bit more, pulled out a pillow and passed it to Jaime. By the time she pulled out her book and a granola bar, he was already back asleep, sprawled halfway onto her seat. She shifted him over none-too-gently, and he snuffled irritably in his slumber. Once she sat down, instead of being reasonable - but really when was Jaime ever _reasonable_ \- he sprawled back right over her lap. She used his legs as a convenient book rest and proceeded to flip through the pages of her latest romance novel.

When the coffee cart rolled down the aisle half an hour into their journey, Brienne bought two cups and waved one under Jaime’s nose. She watched it twitch, then one eye popped open, before the other eye slowly followed. “Life?” he asked.

“Yes.”

He reached out to grab the cup with two hands, straightened up into a passable human adult, and nursed the drink slowly. After finishing half the cup at what could generously be called the pace of a snail - at least the mountains passing by outside were nice to watch while waiting - he glanced at her and said, “You have questions for me.”

“How do you know?”

“You’re staring at me very intently, Jellyfish. It’s quite unnerving.”

Brienne pursed her lips. "Is your dad even going to like me?"

Jaime laughed, which meant he was wholly awake now. "Oh, Seven, no. He's going to _hate_ you."

Brienne frowned, "What?" she said, her voice small. She didn’t like not being liked.

"That's a good thing. If he liked you I wouldn’t like you, and gods, Tyrion would _hate_ you--"

She huffed. "And if he happened to love me?"

Jaime made a face. "You'd probably spontaneously burst into flames, the mere existence of you being incongruous to the stability of the universe."

She rolled her eyes. “What is with you and spontaneous combustion?”

He head butted her gently on the shoulder. “I don’t like burny things, okay?”

Brienne patted his head in genuine sympathy. Sometimes she forgot that his trauma from first year was still very real, even when he himself never took it very seriously. She changed the topic, "Won't they be suspicious if we don't like… kiss and stuff?"

"I've already thought of that."

She raised an eyebrow. "And what is your brilliant plan?"

He sat back and grinned at her. "Jellyfish, imagine for a moment, kissing anyone in front of your or their family -- That face you just made is my plan."

She pouted, but he had a point. "Okay, fine. What if they expect us to share a room?"

"Tywin is going to assume we want to share a room, so he's going to put us into separate ones. Just look as disappointed as you can when he starts ranting about tradition and propriety and stuff, and we'll be in the all-clear."

"Out of curiosity, what would happen if we didn't look disappointed enough?"

"He'll probably find Uncle Gerion just to have the excuse to shove us together,” Jaime paused in contemplation, “Maybe we should act happy to be split, I miss Gerion. He was the cool pibling. Don’t tell Genna I said that, she’ll yank off my ear."

She gave him a sly smile, “I’m not going to give you excuses to talk more and listen less.”

Jaime cackled.

* * *

Jaime audibly groaned when he saw it was Cleos who had been sent to pick them up at the train station dressed in what might have been the puffiest down jacket available to man. Brienne elbowed him in the ribs. “You don’t understand, Jellyfish--”

Apparently he had been loud enough for Cleos to hear, because he said, “Your courtesies, coz!”

“It’s fine, he calls me that all of the time. I’m Brienne Tarth.” She stuck out her hand for him to shake.

Poor Cleos looked utterly appalled at the knowledge, but took her hand in both of his thickly gloved ones and shook it vigorously, “Cleos Frey! Pleasure to meet you. I must apologize for--”

“Honestly, no amount of apologies will ever suffice,” Brienne said dryly, shooting Jaime a small fond smile.

Cleos turned pale and Jaime grinned, nudging her with his shoulder. “See coz, there are people out there who tolerate me as I am.”

Brienne sighed dramatically, “Barely.”

He grinned. “True, but you do!” Cleos continued to grimace as he helped Brienne load their bags into the trunk of the car. “Let me drive,” Jaime said.

Cleos looked down at his keys, and with barely any contemplation he passed them over to Jaime. While he rounded to the driver’s seat he called back to his cousin, “And give Brienne the passenger seat, her long legs will be folded like pretzels in the back.”

“Jaime, that’s rude! Cleos, please take the front.”

Cleos waved his hands. “No, no. It’s not a long drive.”

Brienne tried to fight back, but lost in the end to Cleos’ courtesies. He hadn’t been exaggerating either; their scuffle for the back seat had taken longer than the drive itself. “A car for a two minute drive!” Brienne huffed as she took their luggage out of the trunk.

Blood was slowly flowing back into Cleos’ face when he said, “It’s supposed to be a five minute drive.”

Jaime grinned and politely gave Cleos his keys back, “Thank you,” he said very deliberately. It turned out it took very little to please Cleos. Either that or it was rare that he managed to get Jaime to be courteous to him at all. It was probably the latter. Jaime was well courteous with her, but she was better equipped to threaten him with bodily harm and early morning work out sessions. Or maybe she also had a different definition of courtesy. Two minutes in a car with Cleos had been ever so slightly grating. She ignored Jaime’s knowing grin.

The first person out of the Rock to greet Jaime was his brother, who had elected to go to university in Oldtown rather than in Riverrun or King’s Landing. “Jaime!” he shouted happily and lopped towards them, dodging the banks of snow. When he got close, his face turned very cross. “What the ever living fuck took you so long?”

“If it had been up to me, we would have gotten the afternoon train.”

“Well, thank goodness you’ve managed to find yourself some sense.” Tyrion turned towards her. “You must be Jaime’s girlfriend, I’ve heard much about you, Brienne.”

“Girl--”

Jaime waved at her frantically.

Brienne ground her teeth together and said, “Yes, I’m his girlfriend.”

Tyrion stared at her for a moment, then laughed. “You sound about as angry about that fact as you should be. How did he manage to make that happen? Were you bedazzled by his initial charm only to realize your mistake later?”

Brienne’s nostrils flared just the slightest. “I honestly don’t know.”

“Typical,” Tyrion grinned.

Brienne flickered her gaze up to Jaime, and rightfully, he cowered under her glare.

* * *

At least she didn’t have to pretend to be mad when Tywin assigned them separate rooms. It meant that she wouldn’t be able to throttle Jaime sooner, and he knew it too. “See you in a little bit, Jellyfish,” Jaime said, grinning, and ran like his life depended on it. She noted which bedroom he went into. She would murder him during the night. _She_ would be the terror in the dark.

Although she spent all of lunch and even the hours after lunch by his side, she still wasn’t able to berate him, what with all the introductions that had to happen. And there were _a lot_. Brienne had never seen so many golden haired, green-eyed people in her life.

Early on in the introductions, Aunt Genna had loudly called her his girlfriend while congratulating Jaime, and by the end, all of his relatives had referred to her in the same way -- it was infuriating not being addressed by her own damn name. By the end of the meal, Jaime hadn’t been able to keep the wince off his face, she had been squeezing his hand so hard. “Please, her name is Brienne,” he had tried saying for what could have been a hundred times in desperate attempts to save the bones in his hands. But they were the Lannisters, stubborn as the Rock itself.

After several hours, and a nearly mangled right hand, they were finally able to split off from the group and Jaime led her back to his room. She let go of his hand after the door was firmly shut and he rubbed it while making big sad puppy eyes at her.

“Girlfriend?” she snapped, crossing her arms, and tapping her foot.

Jaime continued rubbing his hand even more pathetically, “I did you a favour, Jellyfish. You were so mad at me, you weren’t even intimidated by my father. That was the closest I’ve ever seen to confusion on his face. I don’t think he’s ever been _irrelevant_ before.”

“Girlfriend?” Brienne exclaimed a little bit more manic.

“It was the only way! If we were just dating, he would have still invited those other women for me to...” Jaime grimaced again, “Just date.”

“You should have told me!”

“I realize that now.”

“I have half a mind to ‘break up’ with you now!”

Jaime charged forward and put his hands over her mouth. “Shhh, the walls have ears!” He looked around dramatically and then gave Brienne his most charming smile. “Jellyfish, would you really have wanted to share me with a bunch of other women?” She continued to glare at him. “Would you have said no if you knew?”

“That’s not the point and you know it.” Her voice was muffled against his palm.

Jaime sighed. “Shit, you’re right.”

“I am.”

“I’ll make you hot chocolate to compensate?” he suggested hopefully.

Brienne eyed him, then pulled his hands away from her mouth. “Every day of the Long Night.”

“Every day.”

“With three marshmallows, chocolate shavings, and a dash of cinnamon.”

“ _Dark_ chocolate shavings.”

“You have to make it. Not one of the kitchen staff.”

“Of course. No one else makes your hot chocolate like I do.”

Brienne huffed. “Fine.”

Jaime beamed.

She wrinkled her nose at him.

* * *

The Lannisters gathered together out in the garden to watch the Sunset. Rows of red cushioned chairs with thick woolen blankets draped over them were set out over a snow cleared lawn that had an unimpeded view of the Sunset Sea.

Jaime dragged her to the front where seven particularly ornate chairs had been set out. “One is for my father and another for my mother.” Brienne gave him a look. “He always sets a chair out for her,” Jaime swallowed, “It’s the most human thing about him. Another is for Cersei and Robert - pray that he’s also a fake - one is for Tyrion, and the last two are for us.” Jaime went on to explain how the rest of the chairs were arranged for Kevan, Genna, Tygett, and Gerion’s families - though Gerion’s only family was little Joy and she sat with Genna instead, since her father wasn’t there. “Sometimes she sits with me,” Jaime grinned and placed a wool blanket over Brienne’s shoulders.

“How very… hierarchical.”

“Not how you do it on the Sapphire Isle?” Jaime teased and threw his blanket over himself.

Brienne rolled her eyes and sat down beside him. She would ask Jaime later where his family got these blankets from. Hopefully they wouldn’t cost her an arm and a leg. Why he used the blanket she gave him rather than procuring one of these back in Riverrun was a complete mystery to her. Though if he ever did, she would steal it from him.

Idle chatter continued on around them until the sun touched the edge of the horizon. Then suddenly all discussion ceased.

As the sun set, the cloudy grey sky washed over with orange and reds and purples. The light was captured by the mist and reflected on the water, painting the Rock in dazzling colour. Brienne wondered what Sunset at the Rock looked like on a clear night; the sight was probably extraordinary if how wonderful this already looked was anything to go by.

She reached out for Jaime’s hand and found it. He entwined their fingers and held on tight. “I’ve never…” she murmured leaning in towards him to whisper. “I have only ever seen Sunrise over the water.”

Jaime whispered back, “That must be a sight to behold.”

Brienne nodded. “It is.”

The colours changed and mixed and flowed in the sky, as the sun slowly sunk and disappeared under the horizon. The sky turned blood red, then soon enough, the world was plunged into darkness.

Before her sight could adjust to the blackness, lights surrounding the wide lawn flickered on and, like a river, lit a path back to the Rock. Brienne watched as lanterns in the flower gardens bloomed, and lights along the outside of the manse, climbing like vines, came to life. Inside of the house, all of the lights turned on. The Rock shone bright in the darkness.

“Oh,” she said, blinking at the beacon in the night. That was when she realized that the rest of the Lannisters had stood and were heading back into the Rock, probably to get ready for dinner.

“You know what I never realized?” Jaime said, still sitting beside her, not at all bothered by her curious, slow daze.

“What?” she asked, turning towards him. His thumb was running over the knuckles of her hand absentmindedly and the touch grounded her to something familiar again.

He grinned. “That others celebrate the Long Night differently than we do.”

Her eyebrows furrowed. “What made you realize that now?”

He laughed and tapped her on the nose. “The horrified look on your face, Jellyfish.”

* * *

The first day of darkness at the Rock passed by fairly uneventfully. The Lannisters didn’t have many traditions that actually had to do with the dark, probably because everything about the Rock revolted against it at any cost. Jaime told her that his father liked to do that, revolt against things that were inevitable. She wondered if the urge had gotten stronger after the death of Jaime’s mom.

Tywin was a complete shut in the whole first day, not even enjoying the light he cast out upon the world, but the rest of Jaime’s piblings actually understood the concept of a holiday and so they spent their day with them, lounging around and drinking gratuitously.

There wasn’t that much to learn about his siblings, Cersei and Tyrion. She had already heard much about them. She just wished that Cersei and Robert would stop trying to eat each other’s faces in the corner of the room in full view of everyone and that Tyrion would stop loudly reminding everyone that she was Jaime’s _girlfriend_. It wasn’t like they had forgotten. She was still pretty sure that none of them had actually referred to her by name.

Uncle Kevan was smart, but he gave off the distinct impression of being a backseat driver, unless that driver was Tywin, and when Brienne whispered this to Jaime, he nearly exhaled his drink through his nose. When she suggested that Lancel was how she imagined Jaime in highschool, he had been so offended that he hadn’t spoken to her for a whole five minutes, only giving Tyrion ample time to swoop in and confirm that yes, they had shared many qualities, although teenage Jaime was a touch more tolerable and had a touch more sense in grooming his patchy facial hair. Jaime had opened his mouth again only to prevent his continued roasting.

Aunt Genna was raucous, loud, and fun, and she always made it seem as though she never thought twice about her words. Jaime told her that was utterly untrue and that Genna was probably the quickest and cleverest of all the piblings. Jaime whispered to her that she was the only person his father ever actively sought advice from, and it was only with the expression of having just eaten a sour lemon. Suffice to say that Jaime had only ever witnessed the occurrence twice in his life.

Uncle Tygett, or Tyg as he insisted she call him, was combative and constantly longing for attention. Unlike Keven, Tyg gave off the distinct air that he would fight with Tywin over every petty little thing, although Jaime assured her that he was unreasonable when it came to many other things too. Tyg, though, had been the one to support Jaime’s passion for athletics and had come to the most games to cheer him on in his childhood.

Jaime told her fantastical stories about his uncle Gerion. He told her about how his uncle used to bring home exotic, often dangerous gifts from Essos or lands even further east and how his booming laugh used to echo through the halls. Genna had contributed by adding that Jaime had his smile, and immediately Brienne could picture what Gerion looked like. No one in the room had Jaime’s smile, so it made sense that it would either come from his lost uncle or from his departed mother.

All of the cousins, Brienne could barely keep straight; there were just so many of them and none of them were particularly interested in talking to her other than Cleos and Joy. She had tried at first to memorize the lot, but Jaime had disabused her of the notion quick enough, and by the time dinner was called, she knew Jaime’s cousins better by the dumbest things they had ever done than by their names. She supposed it wasn’t really any different from being remembered solely as _Jaime’s girlfriend_.

At dinner, tensions seemed high although conversation was proceeding as normal. Brienne found out soon enough that the reason was because Tywin was actually soliciting advice from his siblings, causing all sorts of mayhem.

“It’s about overseas trade with Dorne,” Tyrion informed them when they asked.

Brienne perked up at this and tried to catch snippets of conversation.

After dinner, Brienne slipped away from Jaime for just a second to talk to Tywin. “Excuse me, sir?”

Tywin regarded her cooly, “Jaime’s…” He seemed unsure of how to address her. Brienne didn’t want him to worry about something that would be wholly irrelevant in just a couple days.

“I heard that you are undergoing maritime trade negotiations with Dorne.”

“I am.”

“My father…” It was hard to describe her father’s role at the docks on the Sapphire Isle, “Manages both of the ports on the Sapphire Isle and has a lot of experience with trade negotiation. Please give him a call. He is very knowledgeable and always happy to help.” Brienne searched through her wallet for her dad’s business card and handed it over to Tywin who took it politely enough, though he seemed wholly unimpressed. Jaime found her at that exact moment and made a kind of horrified face when he saw that she was talking to his father.

“I see,” Tywin said, staring at the card as though it was about to rob his family home.

“Uh… yes,” Brienne replied awkwardly.

Tywin once again disappeared into his office and Jaime dragged her off. “I take my eyes off of you for one moment…”

* * *

At breakfast the next morning, with no pre-amble Tywin addressed her, “I called your father.”

She blanched a bit. It was in the middle of the Long Night and her dad was gallivanting off in Essos doing who knows what. Taking calls from Tywin Lannister, apparently? “I hope he was helpful?”

Tywin seemed to pause a moment, before almost imperceptibly, he nodded.

Jaime made a strangled noise. Tywin turned towards his son. "Though I've rarely been able to persuade you not to be a fool, I can still implore you to try." With that Tywin turned and left.

"What the fuck just happened?" Tyrion said.

“Fuck, like I know,” Jaime said.

They spent the rest of the morning with Tyrion, listening to all of his stories about his first semester in university, but not long after breakfast, disaster struck. Although the relationship between Cersei and Robert had indeed been fake, the fall out was still all too real.

“You fucking boar!” Cersei screamed. The sound of her voice reverberated through the halls of the Rock. Tyrion scrambled off of his chair and tried to find a place to hide and Jaime grabbed Brienne’s arm in an attempt to drag her off somewhere - _anywhere_ \- his sister wouldn’t be able to find them. But alas, they were too slow and Cersei charged into Jaime’s room and very dramatically, and familiarly, threw herself onto Jaime’s bed. “The scoundrel!” she shouted and grabbed Jaime’s pillow. She put it over her face and shrieked, “May the Crone’s cunt bite off his cock!”

Brienne, never having heard _that_ particular expletive, blanched. “I’m sorry Robert is such an ass.”

Both Jaime and Tyrion flinched when Cersei hurled her pillow at Jaime’s headboard, “You knew him?” she snarled, her face suddenly very close to Brienne’s.

“Older brother of one of my friends back in high school.”

Cersei’s eyes narrowed at Brienne. “Renly?”

“Um, yes,” Brienne said in agreement, backing away slowly as though afraid to spook a dangerous animal.

Cersei seemed to accept this assessment and then turned to Jaime. “Why didn’t you come to King’s Landing with me?”

“Because then I would have had to spend four years with people like Robert,” Jaime replied quite dryly.

Cersei grabbed another pillow, flopped back, then shrieked into it again.

“Gods, I’m going to go get some wine if we’re stuck with... this -” Tyrion waved his hand in the general direction of his sister, “- situation.”

Some wine ended up being about five bottles of Arbor Red and suffice to say that Brienne was greatly amused when Cersei began rambling, day drunk, with her chin perched on her shoulder. In some ways, she was exactly like her twin brother.

“You know, Jaime always used to do everything I asked of him…”

“Like an idiot,” Tyrion mouthed to Brienne. Before coming to the Rock, she had thought Jaime had exaggerated, at least a little bit, about the level of passive aggression that existed between his two siblings. He had not. Cersei barely acknowledged that Tyrion existed, and Tyrion liked to make comments about Cersei as though she was a soap opera.

“And he was always so jealous whenever other boys tried to get my attention.”

“I was not,” Jaime said. Tyrion held up his hand and held his thumb and index finger apart. Brienne stifled a giggle.

Cersei yanked on Brienne’s arm. “Did you know that I was Jaime’s first kiss?”

“What?” Brienne asked.

“Oh gods… Cersei, just please...” Jaime groaned. “We were kids, it was one time!” Tyrion cackled as he watched the spectacle in front of him unfold.

“He was so bad at it,” Cersei wailed as Jaime tried not to die from mortification, “My sweet twin, the golden child, the boy who could do no wrong, basically slobbered--”

“Cersei! Please do us all a favour and shut up!” Jaime barked.

“Please tell me he’s improved,” she sniffled, slurring her words.

Brienne made a face.

Tyrion burst out laughing.

* * *

Brienne and Jaime spent most of the rest of the second day alone together like most couples did, although instead of _doing_ what most couples did, they just lounged in his bedroom playing video games, reading, chatting like they often found themselves doing, and drinking spiked hot chocolate while snuggled under one of those luxurious blankets by a crackling fire. It was on this night that Jaime finally confessed, “I thought of you first because I thought you would be the best person to be trapped at the Rock with. Turns out I was right.” He reached out to tug at a lock of her nearly silver blonde hair. “You almost blend right in too, though both your eyes and hair are too spectacular for the likes of us.”

“You’re drunk,” Brienne replied, feeling quite topsy turvy herself.

“So what?”

She reached out and wrapped a curl of his hair around her finger. “Your hair and eyes are much more spectacular.” She paused then regarded him seriously, “Please don’t go bald.”

Jaime cackled loudly. “You won’t care if I do though.”

“I will though!” she teased even louder. Jaime shoved her. “Ooft!” Brienne giggled as she sprawled across his floor in a heap. Jaime laid down beside her and they looked at each other and drunkenly smiled and smiled before she attacked his ribs in a tickle war.

* * *

Before breakfast on the third day of darkness, Tywin pulled Brienne and Jaime aside. "We will need to change the room assignments," he said. "Brienne--” Jaime looked over at Brienne in shock and Brienne stared back at him in surprise. His father actually knew her name? “I deeply apologize for the inconvenience, but you will need to spend the last night in Jaime’s room."

"What? Why?" Brienne asked.

Tywin’s face turned stormy. “Do you not wish to sleep in the same room as my son?”

“No!” Brienne shouted in panic. “I mean yes! I mean I would be fine with it!” Tywin’s eyebrow rose higher with every word.

Jaime frantically tried to save the conversation, explaining, “What she means is that it’s just a really big hassle to move all of her stuff with just one night left.”

“I wouldn’t be making such a request unless there was no other option. We will be needing those chambers.”

Jaime huffed. “What can possibly have happened that you need that room _now_?”

Tywin frowned. "I thought you would have heard by now.”

Jaime’s eyebrows furrowed. “Heard what?”

Tywin sighed in annoyance. “Heard _him_.”

Suddenly, the doors to the dining room slammed open. "Jaime! My boy! How you've grown!" Jaime's eyes widened as he whirled around in his seat. At the door was a tall man with long, curly blond hair, bright green eyes, and Jaime’s smile. Joy was cradled in his arms.

Tywin frowned in exasperation and if he had been any other man, Brienne was sure he would have rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Gerion's back."

“And you still have a stick up your ass!” Gerion chuckled and sauntered up to the group of them, “Come give your old uncle a hug.”

Joy shrieked in happiness as Jaime tackled his uncle in a bear hug as Brienne just stood there in awe. "Huh…" Brienne said. Something about this situation tingled at her memory.

* * *

“I’m sorry if I’ve caused you any trouble,” Gerion said as he helped Brienne transfer her stuff from her room to Jaime’s.

“None at all,” she replied, “You didn’t really even need to help me, I could have handled it all on my own.”

Gerion smiled and Brienne couldn’t help but smile back. That expression was just so near and dear to her. “I wanted to get to know you, and also stall for some time for my nephew. Give him a chance to throw his socks and dirty undies into the hamper before you get to his room, you know?” Brienne gave a snort of laughter. She had already experienced his room in every horrible state it could really be in, and he hardly ever tried to make the effort for her anymore, but she still kind of hoped Gerion was right and that she wasn’t about to sleep in a room where Jaime’s bag had simply just exploded everywhere.

“Well, what would you like to know about me?”

“Well, for one, how did you meet Jaime?”

“We lived in the same dorm. He was a complete nuisance.”

“Until he wasn’t?”

“He’s still a nuisance.”

Gerion’s laugh was loud and bright. “Of course.”

“We hated each other at first. Looking back now, it was all quite petty, but the emotion of it… it was still very real, you know?”

“I think it’s a disservice to discount our emotions with hindsight,” Gerion agreed.

“But at the end of first semester, just before the Long Night…”

“Were you the one who was with him when Aerys…”

“I was.”

“I understand.”

“When we came back to school after the holidays a truce had been formed, and the rest is well…” Brienne shrugged.

“That’s all really quite lovely. And now that I know that you were the one that was with him, well… that puts a lot of his stories into context.”

“Stories? If they’re about me, they can’t be any good,” Brienne joked.

Gerion just hummed. “Well, they are a couple years out of date.”

“Oh gods, he’s told you the Jellyfish story.”

Gerion just burst out laughing.

* * *

“I feel this should be more awkward than it is,” Jaime whispered.

Brienne groaned, “Go to bed.”

“Why is this not more awkward than it is?”

“I want to wake up for Sunrise tomorrow.”

“Jellyfish,” Jaime whined.

“I’m going to smother you with your own pillow.”

“Which you can do because you are sleeping in my bed.”

She popped one eye open, “Yes, I am in your bed, and if you don’t go to sleep now, I will be the only one in your bed. Because you will be on the ground. Dead.”

“Isn’t this weird?”

“Jaime, you invade my bed all the time for naps. Now go to sleep.”

“But naps are naps!”

Both of her eyes popped open. “What is the difference?”

“Sleeping is sleeping.”

“Great argument.”

“There’s more cuddling during napping.”

“And that’s supposed to make it less weird?”

“So you admit this is weird!”

Brienne made a loud angry sound, pushed herself up and then flopped herself back down over Jaime, knocking the breath out of him. “There, now it’s weird and uncomfortable.”

“This is an even worse argument, I feel,” Jaime muttered, squirming beneath her until they were both comfortable. “I’m tired.”

“I’m going to kill you.”

Jaime ran a hand through her hair soothingly. “Good night.”

Brienne yawned and closed her eyes. “Good night, Jaime.”

* * *

Sunrise at the Rock was not as big of an affair as Sunset; many of the Lannisters hadn’t even woken up for the occasion. However, Brienne woke up and dragged Jaime from his peaceful sleep. After wrestling on some warm clothes, they headed outside while it was still dark with two mugs of mediocre powdered hot chocolate and a blanket for them to share. The fact that the Rock was so brightly lit took away from the magic of having the sun finally rise again after three days of darkness, but it was still beautiful to see the rays of sunshine burst out from behind the large, craggy manse.

“Sunrise must make you miss home,” Jaime murmured sleepily, resting his head on her shoulder.

Brienne ran her fingers through his hair and he hummed in pleasure. “It does, but this isn’t so bad.”

He smiled. “Thanks for being my date, Jellyfish.”

She nudged him with her shoulder. “You mean your girlfriend.”

Jaime snorted in laughter.

* * *

Cleos was once again the Lannister designated to drive them to the train station but most of the Lannisters came to see them off. They still might not have referred to her by name, they might not have even known her name, but Jaime assured her that this meant they liked her. Most significantly, Tywin had reemerged from his office and was making his way towards the two of them. “I’ll protect you,” Jaime said unconvincingly, stepping in front of her.

“Stop being a drama llama,” Brienne said just as unconvincingly and shoved him to the side. “Mr. Lannister.”

“Call me Tywin, please.”

"Have I died?" Tyrion asked.

"Not even in hell," Jaime replied.

Tywin ignored his two sons, "You are welcome back to the Rock anytime, Brienne.”

Brienne opened her mouth, but couldn’t find the words to say. She closed her mouth again and swallowed, then said quietly, “Um… thank you. I really appreciate that.”

Tywin nodded then turned to Cleos. “Be careful driving them to the station.”

“Yes, Uncle!”

“Jaime, text me when you’re on your way.”

“Uh… okay…” Jaime said and then gave Tyrion a look. Neither of them had _ever_ texted their father before.

“Coz! Unless we leave now, you’re going to be late!”

Brienne looked over at Jaime, who smiled at her. “Let’s go home, Jaime.”

He grinned at her. “Don’t you ever call where Hyle lives home ever again.”

* * *

As the River Road Express pulled out Casterly Rock station, Jaime texted his father. About five minutes later, Brienne looked over to see Jaime making the most bewildered expression.

“What’s the matter?” she asked.

“I think my father has been possessed.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Look at this!”

**Jaime**

Train is leaving now.

**Father**

🙌 🥳 😁 👍 👍 👍 😋 😂

don’t duck up sun 😘 😡 😒

Brienne stared, “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Gods, I was hoping you’d tell me.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to LewisPanda and Nire for betaing and for Slips for organizing this Chilly Chillfest!

“I think I officially need to unfriend my father on WhiteBook,” Jaime said, cringing as he scrolled through his phone.

“What has he posted about now?” Brienne asked, peeking over his shoulder.

“He’s just discovered how to use gifs.”

Brienne made a sympathetic sound deep in her throat. “I bet you he’s the type of person who looks through his friend list every day to see if anyone has unfriended him.”

He turned around to face her. “Gods, you’re right. Tell me again why I accepted?”

“And I quote, ‘My father has WhiteBook? Why the hell not? For the banter.’ I warned you, never add your parents, especially if they’re wildcards.”

“Your dad isn’t like this.”

Brienne snorted so loud that Jaime was surprised her sinuses hadn’t just spilled all over the floor. He tweaked her nose. She slapped his hand away. “He’s exactly like that.”

He frowned at his phone. “How do you deal?”

“I mute him.” Suddenly, her eyebrows furrowed. “Jaime, the chocolate is melting. Jaime, it’s going to burn. Jaime!”

He turned around to give the concoction a stir. It was nowhere close to burning, but it _was_ nearly ready. Brienne was very rarely the drama llama between the two of them, but when it came to her hot chocolate… well... “Brutal. And he doesn’t know?”

“Not a clue.”

He tapped his screen three times. “Well, Tywin Lannister has officially been muted.”

“Can I have my hot chocolate now?” Brienne made grabby hands from behind him, reaching around his waist.

“Patience!” he said, laughing, and then put down his phone so he could pour the drink into a mug.

Brienne rested her chin on his shoulder. “I’ve been patient!”

“Do you want it done right?”

She pouted. “Yes…”

“Patience then.”

Brienne continued to be categorically impatient for the next two minutes as Jaime added the final touches. She had probably learned that kind of bad behaviour from him, but really, wasn’t it her fault for taking him as an example? When he finally handed her the mug, she grinned and skittered off to the other side of the kitchen island clutching it protectively in both her hands. He leaned over the kitchen counter to watch her enjoy it. “Congratulations on finishing your penultimate semester, Jellyfish. How does it feel?”

“It feels like I should have done something for you too.” She took a sip and hummed in pure happiness, licking at the cinnamon that was stuck to her upper lip.

Jaime grinned. “You tolerate me year round, I know what a beast of burden I am.”

“Gods, you two really need to get a room,” Hyle muttered, walking into the kitchen.

Jaime flipped him the bird and scowled. “Get a life.”

“How did your last exam go?” Brienne asked and turned towards him.

Hyle shrugged and flopped into one of the chairs at the table, leaning back on the two hind legs. Jaime willed for the wood to give out. “Shit, what can I say?”

“Sorry to hear that,” Brienne said, and meant it too. How she could be civil, _nice_ even, to the man, given how much of a cunt he was, Jaime would never know. It took all of his willpower not to break Hyle’s nose daily. For some reason Brienne didn’t feel the same and every time she asked him why he felt this way, all he could say was that he just _did_. Elia never seemed to have this urge either.

“It’s okay, just need to put more time into studying next semester,” Hyle said, shooting her an imploring look that Jaime decided he detested.

“Better ask Elia for help, then!” Jaime intoned.

“Actually, I was hoping--”

Brienne twitched. She set down her hot chocolate and pulled out her vibrating phone. “Sorry, Dad’s calling, probably about Long Night plans.” She swooped out of the kitchen.

“What’s your problem, Lannister?” Hyle grinned in that way that told Jaime he knew the answer to his own question.

“You,” Jaime said, scowling.

A smirk. “And what have I done to deserve your ire?”

He scowled. “Exist.”

Hyle clutched at his heart dramatically for a moment, before he dropped the whole act. “I think it’s because you know I’m competition and you hate that.”

Jaime gritted his teeth. “Competition? For what?”

“For Brienne.”

Jaime smirk was all teeth. “You’re hardly competition in that regard.”

Hyle’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Shit, didn’t think you were even that aware.”

Jaime sneered. “Brienne hardly even considers you a friend.”

Hyle stared at him for a moment. Then he burst out laughing. Jaime weighed the pros and cons of throwing one of the kitchen knives at Hyle’s chest, the biggest con being that Brienne would be very mad at him for killing a person in winter. She never _had_ given him a straight answer for whether she would help him bury a body under snow and ice.

That was when the woman herself slumped back into the kitchen. One look at her and he immediately forgot about Hyle. “Are you okay?” Jaime asked, his voice laden with worry as he moved closer to her to make sure he could catch her if she fainted. “You’ve gone really pale.”

She met his eyes. They were big and blue and _doomed_. “My dad wants to invite Tormund over again.”

“Tormund?”

Brienne grimaced. “Yeah, he said he wants to extend the invitation this year to someone I have already spent the Long Night with.”

“Gods,” Jaime said. “Why?”

“Why indeed,” Hyle muttered. He was ignored.

Brienne practically downed the rest of her hot chocolate. “I honestly don’t know. That’s like asking why your father has such a weird obsession with cat memes,” she said.

“Hey, what if I was your boyfriend?” At Brienne’s confused look and Hyle’s snort, he continued undeterred. “You know, fake boyfriend, like you were mine, fake girlfriend I mean, last year. Return the favour. If you have a boyfriend, your dad can’t insist you invite some other dude… right?”

“Would you really?” Brienne asked, her shoulders relaxing.

Jaime rubbed soothing circles between her shoulder blades. “Yeah, of course I would.”

“I’m going to call my dad back right now,” Brienne said, and ran back out of the room, her phone already to her ear.

“Seven, you two are really that stupid,” Hyle muttered.

“And you’re really that irrelevant.”

Hyle waved his hands. “Ooh, you got me.”

She returned not five minutes later to a near brawl, looking a little bit bewildered. “What did you dad say _this time_?” Jaime asked.

“Well, I told him I was going to bring you.”

“Yeah and…?”

“And he seemed confused why I called him back?”

“That is weird.”

“Fuck me,” Hyle muttered. “I hope stupidity isn’t contagious.”

* * *

Tyrion was not happy with Jaime at all. “I cannot believe you are leaving me to our family so that you can go gallivanting off to a small rock in the middle of the Narrow Sea--”

“Hang out with Gerion!”

“You’re the one who’s obsessed with Gerion! To me he’s just the crazy uncle.”

“Aunt Genna, then?”

“Aunt Genna likes to tell me that I’m like our father!”

Jaime cringed at that. While Tyrion was definitely the sibling that was most like Tywin, he did not like it being pointed out to him. “Bond with Cer--”

“I will end you.”

Jaime sighed and rolled over in bed. “I don’t know what else to tell you.”

“Tell me that you’ve changed your plans and are now coming back to the Rock for the holidays.”

“Can’t.”

“I’m going to strike Brienne off of my list of favourite people.”

“Don’t say that. You’ll break her heart,” Jaime frowned and looked up at his bedroom door. Thankfully, Brienne hadn’t just burst through, meaning that she hadn’t just been looming on the other side, which meant that she hadn’t just overheard. “Why don’t you just not go to the Rock this year? Spend the holidays with _your_ girlfriend. Tysha, was it?”

Tyrion was silent for a moment, and then he muttered shyly, “You don’t think it’s too soon to spend the Long Night with her?”

Jaime grinned, “Nah, buddy.”

“Can I tell you some of my ideas, then?”

“Shoot.”

Thankfully, and perhaps completely expectedly, his conversation with Cersei went much differently.

“Finally!” she huffed. “With you gone, father will realize that _I’m_ the one that inherited his brilliant mind and he will, at last, decide that I should be the one to inherit the family business.”

Jaime balanced his phone on his face. “Uh huh.”

“I’m the one who chose to go to King’s Landing for business school. I’m the one who has made friends with the right people. I’m the one who has--”

And on and on.

He loved his sister, he really did. But everyday, and more with each passing day, he was grateful that he had chosen to go to a different school than her.

* * *

They took the River Road Express Train to the Crossroads the evening before Sunset and then the overnight King’s Road Rail to Storm’s End via King’s Landing. Jaime, who had complained for literal _days_ about why they weren’t just flying - she had told him every time that flying into _Storm’s End_ was a fool’s game, especially around the Long Night - had insisted on purchasing cabin tickets and so instead of sleeping cramped in barely reclined seats, they were now attempting to sleep in cramped beds at least half a foot too short for either of their statures. It also didn’t help that when either of them would sit up they would smack their heads on the bed above or on the roof.

“Every game is a fool’s game,” Jaime rued as he shuffled noisily on the top bunk.

Brienne channeled her inner egg as she curled up. “Just try to sleep.”

“What do you think I’m doing?”

“Complaining.”

Jaime shifted again, followed by an “Ow!” as his head thunked on the roof, then he dropped down beside her. “Move over.”

“You can’t possibly think we’ll be more comfortable stuffed into the _same_ bed.”

“No,” Jaime muttered. “Well, not exactly. I’m trying to have a stroke of brilliance at the stroke of midnight. Just humor me.”

“I feel that’s all I do,” Brienne sighed and sat up anyways.

“A sleepy Jellyfish is a grumpy Jellyfish,” Jaime mocked, but began taking his own blankets, pillows and bags, and shuffled them around along with all of Brienne’s possessions. “There. Now lean back.”

Brienne collapsed onto the pile Jaime had made and infuriatingly enough, she was now at an incline where her feet only just brushed the wall and yet she wasn’t more vertical than horizontal. “Where are you going to sleep?” she asked suspiciously.

Jaime just waved his hand at her in agitation and she sighed. She opened her arms and welcomed him into the curve of her body. He crawled into her embrace and rested his cheek on her shoulder, his forehead pressed to her neck. Brienne rested her own cheek on the crown of his head. He was warm and was a good replacement for the blanket she had lost to his machinations. Even though he was shifted forward on the bed, being a couple inches shorter than her, his feet only just brushed the wall as well. “Tell me I’m brilliant,” he yawned.

“Go to sleep.”

He smirked sleepily. “I will.”

The good night’s rest was almost worth Jaime’s smug grin the next morning.

The sky was gray but it was warm when they pulled into Storm’s End.

Jaime pulled at his scarf, unwrapping it until it hung open around his neck. “What the hell, Jellyfish? It feels like spring here!”

“Wait until you get onto the Sapphire Isle,” Brienne grinned.

The ferry terminal was only a few blocks away from the train station, so the two of them purchased some cheap coffee from a nearby cafe and walked through the city streets. Most of the shops were closed in preparation for Sunset that night, but there were still a couple places that were open and any place that caught Jaime’s eye, they stopped by.

“That is a lot of weather vanes,” Jaime said, squinting at all of the designs. “Oh hey, they even have a lion!”

Brienne gave him a deadpan stare. “Really, you’re really going to go with a lion?”

“I lean into my heritage,” Jaime grinned and touched the black and red rippled metal. “Its mane looks more like a starburst though, don’t you think?”

Brienne leaned closer to take a look. “It does.”

“I’m going to get it.”

“Do you even know what weather vanes are for?”

“The aesthetic.”

“I hate you.”

Jaime proudly carried his new package out of the shop. They managed to make it to the ferry terminal with only a couple more detours and thankfully no other aesthetic purchases. In the distance, Brienne could see that an afternoon storm was rolling in and she hoped that it wouldn’t catch them on the tail end of their ferry ride.

The ferry was fairly empty - a couple flights into Storm’s End had been cancelled that morning and Brienne _tried_ not to be smug about it, but ultimately failed - and they were able to find seats by the large windows. Fog was developing on the panes due to the humidity. Jaime traced his finger over the surface. Brienne leaned forward. “What are you drawing?” she asked, both curiously and suspiciously.

“Barty,” he said.

“Barty is cuter than that!”

“By cuter, do you mean fatter?”

“I mean rounder!” she said and began sketching Barty on the glass too. In mere moments the window was covered with all sorts of rolly polly bears.

Jaime laughed, “That is _not_ what Barty looks like. For one, he’s missing an eye.”

“You know we don’t talk about his missing eye.”

He held up his hands in supplication. “My apologies to Barty.”

“Say it to his face.”

“What?”

Brienne leaned over to unzip her bag. Out exploded her, once flattened, stuffed animal. She shoved one eyed Barty into Jaime’s face. “Say it to his face!”

Jaime pursed his lips.

Brienne bit her bottom one.

They both burst out in laughter as Brienne clutched her bear to her stomach.

* * *

The storm was at its peak when they docked and Jaime was questioning the sanity of Stormlanders. “How is it that flights are cancelled in this sort of weather but not ferries or trains?” he exclaimed, waving at the windows. It was practically howling outside. “How is the Sapphire Isle one of the top destinations for the Long Night? Sure, it’s warm, warmer here than it has any right to be in winter - it feels like we’re in Dorne - but the monsoon outside can’t possibly be worth it, right?”

“It’ll pass within the hour,” Brienne said as they shared a truly terrible cup of tea; it was basically just sweetened milk. “And then we can head out.”

Jaime stared at her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

She grinned at him. “Sorry, Mr. Big Shot, there’s no one available to chaperone us, we’re _walking_ to the Tarth family residence.”

“How long of a walk is that?” Jaime asked warily.

Brienne shrugged with a smirk on her face. “With our bags? About an hour.”

To his credit, Jaime only complained for the first five minutes, until he noticed everything there was to notice about walking around on the Sapphire Isle after a rainstorm. “Gods, I didn’t think water could be that blue.”

“Pretty, right? There’s a reason this place is called the Sapphire Isle,” Brienne said as they walked on a gravel path close to the shore.

“My second most favourite shade of blue,” he declared.

Brienne laughed. “Wait until the sun comes out, you’ll change your mind then.”

He huffed. “Unlikely.” She shrugged. “What’s the water like on the other side of those mountains?”

“Much the same until a little ways past Morne, and then it’s just the Narrow Sea. You’ll see it when we make our way to that side of the island for Sunrise.”

“Make our way?”

Brienne grinned at him. “The best way to spend the Long Night on the Sapphire Isle is to go camping in the north during the darkness. Start on the western shore for Sunset and end on the eastern shore for Sunrise. Tourists often just stay on the east and watch Sunset over the mountain tops, but we locals know best.”

“You islanders don’t like your suns over mountains or something?” Jaime teased.

She nudged him with her shoulder. “Exactly the opposite. If you start in the west, you get to see Sunset over Westeros. Mountains, hills, and plains.”

“Shit,” Jaime laughed. “That’s ominous. What else am I going to experience on this locals only camping trip?”

“Well, it’s no fun if I tell you instead of showing you.”

“How mysterious. I hope you have some gear for me, I am wholly unprepared to go camping, though now I understand why you were hovering while I was packing.”

“We have all the gear you’ll need. Dad purchased it all for” -- Brienne grimaced -- “Tormund two years ago.”

“So I’ll get my own tent and everything?”

Brienne grimaced again.

“Wait… your dad tried to stuff you into the same tent as a total stranger?”

“He has good intentions, but horrible executions. Luckily, Gal was pretty understanding.”

“Gods, no wonder your sisters got obsessed over that commercial. Did they do reenactments?”

“Please, don’t mention that to them, maybe they have forgotten that by now.”

“Jellyfish, that commercial is a cult classic. You have no idea how many times Tyrion used to play it for mine and Cersei’s benefits.”

Brienne wrinkled her nose, but then a grin spread over her face. “Well, you two _did_ kiss that one time.”

“Gods, I’d hoped you had forgotten that.”

She cackled, “Never.”

That was when the sun finally decided to peek out from between the rolling clouds. The rays of light reflected off of the rain drops that were still clinging onto every surface, making everything around them sparkle, including the blue of the ocean.

“Favourite shade of blue yet?” Brienne asked, while shedding her jacket and turning her face to the sun, a smile tugging on her lips.

Jaime shook his head. “Still a far second.”

* * *

Brienne didn’t take out her keys or knock on the front door. She just opened it as though they had transported fifty years into the past. “I’m home!” She shouted and discarded her shoes in the mess of footwear that was scattered by the door. Immediately, the sound of pounding feet came from above them. She took Jaime’s bag and slid it half way down the hallway so that he would have room to get into the house, then shut the door behind her. Jaime quickly slipped off his shoes too as the house continued to shake.

“Brienne!” She immediately turned towards the stairs and caught the body that had launched itself at her. Long arms wrapped around her neck and squeezed tight, blonde hair flying everywhere. “I missed you so much!”

Brienne wrapped her arms around her sister’s back and swung her back and forth in the air before setting her feet back down on the ground. “I missed you too.”

“Dammit, Alys, it was _my_ turn!” Arianne said, still standing on the steps, scowling and looking very cross.

Alys turned around and stuck her tongue out at her twin. “Your turn was last year!”

“Last year doesn’t count! We were at Shireen’s!”

Alys looked over at Brienne and shook her head gravely. “Never again.”

Arianne’s frown only got deeper. “Gods, not until she moves out at least. We tried to convince her to come here this year, but she said she couldn’t leave Davos to fend for himself.”

Brienne grimaced. “Stannis and Selyse aren’t _that_ bad.”

A booming laughter came from the end of the hallway. “If I remember correctly, you once swore to stab Stannis in the neck with a butter knife.”

Brienne turned to see Galladon leaning on the kitchen door frame, covered in dust. “Why do you look gross?” Brienne asked.

“Good to see you too,” Galladon grinned and pushed himself up straight to approach the mass of people. “Also, because all the ladies in this house have been raised as heathens,” he held out his hand. “Hello, you must be Jaime.”

Jaime nearly took a step back when two identical faces snapped to stare at him. Although the twins were an inch shorter than Brienne, it still made them both about an inch taller than him. Galladon, meanwhile, was even taller than Brienne, and somehow looked more built too. Brienne had _not_ told him how tall everyone in her family was. What in all names did her _father_ look like? Why hadn’t he done his WhiteBook research? Was he a fool? He took Galladon’s hand and shook it. “Uh, um yes, Jaime Lannister, uh… at your service.”

“No!” Brienne shouted and whirled to glare at Galladon. “He doesn’t mean that! He’s just being _polite_.”

“Too late,” Galladon sang and clapped Jaime on the back of the shoulder. “Grab your shoes and come with me. We’ll do a proper introduction later when dad gets back. I only just managed to dig all the gear out of the shed and I’m going to need some help packing the truck. Brienne usually helps me, but she’s very shouty.”

“Am not!”

Galladon hustled Jaime out the back with a large grin on his face. “Plus, the vultures look ready to interrogate you and I am duty bound to aid you wherever I can.”

“You can’t save him,” Alysanne shouted. “We have the whole Long Night!”

“You two _will_ leave Jaime alone,” Brienne said, turning on her twin sisters.

“That’s not how things work around here,” Arianne grinned mischievously and nudged her older sister with her shoulder. “He’s _hot_. I see now why Tormund never stood a chance.”

Brienne flushed red hot. “We’re not going to talk about this!”

“Maybe we’ll ask Jaime,” Alysanne sang.

“Don’t you dare!” Alysanne and Arianne shrieked in delight as Brienne burst forward to tickle them.

A little while later, with both her sister’s sitting on her back in the middle of the living room floor, she asked, “Where’s dad?”

“Grocery shopping… well, probably grocery shopping,” Alysanne replied.

“Did you give him a list?”

“I don’t think anything is going to stop him from trying to impress your first boyfriend, Bri,” Arianne said.

Brienne sighed, “Pray he doesn’t come back with a yacht.”

“Oh, far too late for that,” Alysanne snorted.

“He _did not_ purchase a yacht.”

Arianne giggled, “It’s docked in the marina on the east. Dad said he wanted to take it out for Sunrise.”

“I mean, that would be great, but a _yacht_? We are not yacht people.”

Alysanne patted Brienne on the head and put on her best Crownlands accent. “Au contraire, but I think we are.”

“Why did he buy the yacht? Please don’t tell me it was to impress…” Brienne shifted through her memories and came up short. “Jeyne?” The name Jeyne was always a good bet. Her father had dated at least three different Jeyne’s that she was aware of.

Alysanne took pity. “His most recent relationship was with Harys.”

“Ah,” Brienne said. “He was… nice?”

Arianne cackled, “He was. But dad didn’t actually buy the yacht to impress one of his flings. It was an empty nest thing.”

“Okay, there are useful things he could have bought after we all left, and a _yacht_ is not one of them.”

“Watch dad come back with a Valyrian tonight,” Arianne cackled.

“I need to go warn Jaime,” Brienne sighed and rolled her sister’s off of her. She stood up and brushed off her clothes.

“Oh.” Alysanne teased, “Can’t even be without him for very long.”

Brienne flushed and wrinkled her nose but headed out back anyways. She walked down the hallway, through the kitchen, and out the backdoor onto the patio, the twins following behind. The large garden gate had been opened and an old, rusty, blue truck had been backed into the yard. Galladon was standing on the truck bed shifting everything around so that it would all fit while Jaime was lugging equipment from the pile by the shed over. He had discarded his pullover, the sun and the humid air making it far too warm to wear more than a short sleeve shirt while doing any kind of lifting.

Jaime carried over to the truck several sleeping bags and instead of placing them at Galladon’s feet, he tossed them to him, one by one. Brienne’s brother caught them easily and stuffed them in with the other items. Jaime must have made some kind of comment because Galladon’s booming laugh echoed through the yard and she saw him say something back to Jaime who chuckled and leaned his front against the side of the truck, his arms crossed as he listened to what Galladon had to say. Brienne smiled as she watched the light play with his golden curls and how it made his eyes shine when he smiled.

“Oh,” Alysanne whistled in appreciation, grabbing onto Brienne’s arm. “Oh, I see it now. Those biceps...”

“Told you so,” her twin commented. “Nice hit, Bri,” Arianne agreed. “Right on the mark. Please, tell me he feels as good as he looks.”

“Let me help!” Brienne shouted, and launched herself over the patio railing and onto the grass in her socks.

Galladon grinned and crouched down on the truck bed so that he could easily stage whisper to Jaime, “See, what did I say about shouty?”

* * *

They were all sitting around on the patio, nursing their own respective drinks, when Selwyn finally arrived home. A deep booming voice shook the house. “Galladon! Help me unload the car!”

Galladon plopped his bottle of beer down on the table and rolled his shoulders. “Two dragons he brought back a whole sheep.”

“I’ll take you up on that and raise you a dragon that a camper is hitched to the back of the 4x4,” Arianne grinned.

“Dad isn’t going to make us sleep uncomfortably,” Brienne said and shot Jaime a knowing look, which he returned. “Five dragons he bought fireworks.”

“Fuck!” Galladon muttered, “Fireworks… raise you--”

“The big, fire breathing dragon ones too.”

“Double fuck,” he swore again.

“Galladon! Hurry up! Wait… I see Brienne’s shoes. Brienne, come too!”

Brienne glared at her sisters. “Behave!” They both put their hands over their hearts at the same time, which didn’t bode well for Jaime. She turned to him next. “I know this is hard for you. But you don’t have to open your mouth if you don’t want to.”

He laughed. “Go help your dad. I can handle your sisters.” He looked over at them and they grinned predatorily. “Maybe. Probably. Actually, no. I can’t even handle Cersei. It was all doomed from the start, might as well get it over with.” Brienne rolled her eyes at him and the two older siblings disappeared back into the house. The moment they were out of sight, Alysanne moved to his one side and Arianne sat on his other. Jaime tried not to flinch. It was mildly terrifying, being in a Tarth sandwich, and there were only two of them, five if you count all the Tarths. How the hell had Brienne survived being around his mob of a family the previous year?

Well, for one, he was the only one that was over six foot. That had to be a part of it.

“First thing’s first,” Arianne said. “Break her heart, and I stab you with a butter knife.”

“Why is it always a butter knife?” Jaime asked nervously.

“It’s blunt and will hurt a lot more.”

“And don’t think you’ll be able to hide. We have eyes everywhere,” Alysanne hissed.

Jaime laughed and wondered what kind of deal he had _actually_ brokered with Brienne. “Let’s just say, there is _no_ chance of that.”

They both seemed to relax at that. Arianne squirmed and wrung her hands, “Has… has Brienne been _happy_ the last four years at Riverrun? She… she struggled a lot in highschool and we were all worried when she decided not to stay close and go to Storm’s End. We’re never sure if what she tells us is the whole truth or a nicer version of it. You two have been friends the whole time, right?”

“Uh… I wouldn’t say that we were friends during our first semester,” Jaime said, scratching the back of his neck. It was actually kind of a shock to him that they didn’t hate him on principle for what his relationship with Brienne had been like for those first four months, but now he understood; she probably just hadn’t told them that an annoying ass living in her dorm was antagonizing the shit out of her. “But yeah, by the second semester we were pretty inseparable. We’ve lived in the same shared house together since second year.”

Alysanne smiled, “That’s nice, sounds like it has the potential to be very domestic.”

Jaime snorted, “I wouldn’t say that.”

Alysanne’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why not?”

“It’s hard to be domestic when cu-- people like Hyle Hunt are roaming around.”

“Hyle Hunt?” Arianne asked. “Who’s Hyle Hunt?”

Jaime grinned; it was finally his time to enlighten several more people on how big of a bag of dicks Hyle Hunt was, “Well--”

Suddenly, hysterical laughter flooded out of the house. Jaime turned around in his chair to see that Brienne had thrown open the back door and was bent over double, her hands braced on her knees. The manic sound Galladon was making echoed from further back in the house, “We have all lost,” she huffed as she tried to catch her breath between bursts of hysteria. She pounded her fist on the door frame. “Can’t… breathe.”

Arianne had a look of fear on her face. “What did dad get?”

That was when a man, who was a startling _foot shorter_ than Brienne, came up from behind her with a large potted plant cradled in his hands. “Look what I found at the market, darling,” he said proudly.

They all stared at the sapling sprouting from the pot. It had white bark, from which tiny drops of red coloured sap oozed, and bright fire red leaves, all with five points.

“Is that a fucking weirwood tree?” Jaime asked, completely bewildered at not just the tree, but the size of the man who had sired the giants who surrounded him. He stood up to get a better look at the plant, and maybe also to confirm that Selwyn was indeed five foot three. Jaime had never seen a weirwood outside of pictures found in old textbooks.

“It is!” Selwyn said proudly and Brienne burst out again in laughter. Jaime shot her a fond look. “You must be Jaime!” He shifted the pot under his arm - Brienne dived behind him to pluck it out of his grasp before it could meet a tragic end - and held out his hand, “It’s very nice to meet you.” Tears sprung to his eyes as he now used both of his hands to clasp Jaime’s. “I know that Brienne can sometimes be a tough character, but she’s really very soft inside--”

“Dad!” Brienne hissed in embarrassment, cradling the incredibly rare and practically mythical tree to her chest.

Jaime patted Selwyn’s hand, and met Brienne’s eye over her dad’s head. “I know, sir.”

Selwyn gave him a big smile, then flicked away the tear. “My apologies, we’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other.” He waved at the plant Brienne was carrying. “The weirwood is a gift from me to you.”

“What? Dad, no! They are so rare!” Alysanne shouted.

“Dad! He’s just a boy. Sorry Jaime, but that’s a _weirwood_!” Arianne said.

“Dad, don’t give him the weirwood!” Brienne protested. “He has a black thumb!”

Selwyn gave her a happy sly smile, “It’s not just a gift for Jaime darling; it’s also a gift for you. I hope it grows along with your relationship.”

Brienne gaped and flushed. Jaime cringed. Selwyn triumphantly hummed.

* * *

They ended up having dinner very early in the evening so that they could all get down to shore in time to see the Sunset. Jaime sat down beside Brienne on a large, old quilt and they watched as the sun sank below the skyline. The light didn’t reflect off of the Straits of the Sapphire Isle like it did on the Sunset Sea, but that wasn’t what Jaime focused on anyways. It _was_ ominous, seeing the darkness descend over the continent. Especially since, for the first time in his life, lights didn’t flare up the moment the sun was gone. “Did the Long Night ever give you nightmares, Jellyfish?” Jaime asked quietly.

Brienne’s hand found his in the dark. Maybe it had been something in his voice that had signalled to her his apprehension. “Sometimes, but there are ways to chase the Others away. Come on, before they leave us behind.”

Jaime stumbled a bit, unused to only using the moon to light his way, but Brienne gently guided him, and soon enough he was corralled into the passenger seat of the 4 x 4. Alysanne and Arianne were already sitting in the back, bouncing excitedly. “Hurry up. Brienne! We want to get there before dad and Gal do!”

“It’s not a race,” Brienne said, buckling her seatbelt.

Both of her sister’s booed loudly as Brienne steadily pulled out of the drive, behind the loaded truck that had careened out in front of them, all of the things in the bed now secured. The truck revved once and then was off, and Brienne rolled her eyes. “Your brother?” Jaime asked.

“My dad,” Brienne muttered. “Galladon drives like I do. You would too, growing up with that monster on the road.”

The drive was about an hour long and took them to the northernmost point of the isle. Brienne explained to him as they drove that it was where the biggest beach on the island was, but it wasn’t a well-developed area because the sand was coarse and the beach itself was surrounded by rock.

As they got closer to their destination, Jaime could see that a huge bonfire had been lit on the beach and that maybe a hundred people were mingling around it. Brienne parked the car far from the dancing flames and the four of them grabbed whatever had been stuffed into the trunk, mostly coolers filled with snacks and beer, and went searching for where Selwyn and Galladon had made camp.

As they walked, Brienne pulled Jaime away from her sisters. “The big bonfire isn’t a mandatory part of this whole thing,” she reminded him. “We don’t always go over there.”

Jaime looked back at all of the people gathered around. “I…” he took in a deep breath. “It looks fun.”

“Seriously, Jaime. We can just spend time around our camp.”

“Is… is it safe?”

“There’s always a team of people dedicated to managing it. There’s a water pump ready to dump the ocean onto it, if needed, the fuel is kept at a safe distance…”

“I think - I think it’ll be okay.”

She squeezed his hand. “We’ll take it slow.”

He looked at her. “Okay.”

They found them far off to the side, four tents already set up around a smaller campfire that was already blazing, beach chairs set into the sand closer to the water. “What took you so long?” Selwyn asked, grinning.

“Where’s Gal?” Brienne asked.

“Said he wanted to go for a bit of a run, shake off some nerves.” Selwyn shrugged. Alysanne and Arianne laughed and ducked into one of the tents.

“I see that you still didn’t buy another one,” Brienne said, looking at the three other tents.

Selwyn gave her a big smile. “Didn’t think there would be a point.”

Brienne huffed then dragged him into her tent. From the corner of her eye she watched her father nearly explode in happiness.

Inside two bed rolls, two sleeping bags, two pillows, a lantern, and their bags had been left for them. “Well… this is intimate,” Jaime said.

“Oh, shush,” Brienne muttered, her cheeks heating up. Then she whispered, “This is also okay, right? Oh gods, I’m just realizing I didn’t think this through very well. Oh Seven, I know we’re--”

“I invade your bed all the time, Jellyfish.”” He grinned and rubbed her back in an effort to try and calm her. “Nothing we haven’t faced together before.”

Brienne shook her head, but fondly. “As long as you’re comfortable.”

Jaime poked one of the bed rolls. “Well… how thick is this?”

“I take it back, I hope you wake up with a crick in your neck.”

“Heartless.”

After setting up the inside of their tent and leaving Barty to guard it, they came back out to see that Galladon had rejoined them. “Come join us for a drink before bed,” he said, waving an opened bottle of beer.

“What about the big bonfire?” Jaime asked. From beside him, Brienne grabbed his hand and squeezed.

Galladon grinned at him, “On the night of Sunset, the big bonfire is only for those looking for someone else to spend the other nights with.”

“Oh,” Jaime said, taking the offered bottle.

The six of them gathered around the fire and he was inundated with stories of Brienne’s childhood, much to her embarrassment and his delight. They laughed and joked until the campfire died down to embers. Selwyn left for bed first, then Alysanne and Arianne. Galladon went to grab a bucket of sea water to douse the ashes, and while he was gone, Brienne grabbed Jaime’s arm and pointed at the sky. “Look,” she said.

Jaime did.

Above him stretched the heavens, starry and bright, somehow colourful, despite the darkness.

“Do you know your constellations?” Brienne asked him.

Jaime swallowed. “I know the Sword of the Morning,” he replied.

She nodded and then sidled closer beside him. “Well, that over there in the east is the Crone’s Lantern. See how those stars connect?” Jaime nodded. “And right above us is the Moon Maid. She’s shy the rest of the year, but during the Long Night she’s high in the sky along with the Ice Dragon. There’s the long tail.”

“I’ve never seen the stars like this before.”

Brienne laughed, “Well, with the way your father lights up the Rock, I’m not surprised.”

A splash and hiss came from behind them. They turned to see that Galladon had doused the fire and was grinning at them both. “Please, do remember that canvas isn’t very sound proof,” he said with a wink. “Goodnight!”

* * *

On the first day of darkness, they woke up huddled together, having sought each other out in the night for the additional warmth. They first joined the rest of the family for breakfast before they made their way to the large bonfire where they spent the rest of the day. At first they kept themselves farther from the flames, but as the day progressed, they slowly meandered closer and closer. Throughout the day, Brienne introduced Jaime to everyone she knew, starting with the people who were part of the maintenance team. She kept herself between him and the flames and checked up on him often, but he was taking the day in stride, enjoying the dancing, revelry, and people of the Sapphire Isle.

That night they purposefully huddled together for warmth, zipping their sleeping bags together, and so they were less surprised by their close proximity on the second morning. They took a bit of a lie in and cuddled closer together, laughing as they recounted the events of the previous day. Brienne regaled him with gossip about all of the people he had met, things she hadn’t been able to say while they were there, but harmless things as was her way, and they were only pulled from their reverie when Galladon threw sand at their tent. “Come join the rest of us!” he shouted. When they finally did, Alysanne and Arianne ducked their heads in muted laughter, and Selwyn beamed at them bright enough to light up the sky. They spent the rest of the day at their own camp trading stories, eating, drinking, and playing campfire games.

On the third morning, Jaime woke up in Brienne’s arms, her forehead pressed to the back of his neck and Barty discarded off to the side. On that day, instead of joining in with everyone else at the bonfire, they stayed back at their campsite to pack up and just spend time together. After getting everything back into the bed of the truck, they sat in the darkness, and Brienne traced out for him more constellations and told him the stories that went with each as they reclined in the beach chairs, the warm water lapping at their feet.

“Jellyfish.” Jaime tugged at her arm. “Am I going crazy, or is the ocean glowing blue?”

Brienne sat up in a hurry and looked at the sea, “Jaime!” she shouted excitedly and scrambled to her feet. “You’re so lucky!”

“To be going crazy?” he teased.

She grabbed both of his hands and dragged him into the water, soaking the cuffs of his jeans. Everywhere they stepped the ocean lit up, bright and blue, and when Jaime looked back at the shore, he saw that every time a wave hit the sand the water would glow too. “They don’t bloom every year and when they do, it’s not often during the Long Night,” Brienne explained as she started splashing her feet around with the fervour of a small child, lighting up the water even more. She looked at him, her eyes sparkling with joy. “But this is another reason why it’s called the Sapphire Isle! We sometimes get blooms of these bioluminescent algae!”

Jaime took a moment to absorb her happiness. And then he started splashing around too. Selwyn, Galladon, Arianne, and Alysanne returned not long after to see two shrieking adults jumping around in the glowing blue water, and without fail, all four of them joined in.

* * *

They drove out late that afternoon down the eastern side of the Sapphire Isle. Eventually, buildings started reappearing again, before a large ocean-side town could be seen in the distance. “This is the biggest settlement on Tarth,” Brienne explained. “It’s where all the big ships from Essos and Dorne come in. My dad is in charge of both ports and spends half of his time here and half of his time back at the family home.”

They pulled into the parking lot of the marina and found a space. Brienne turned around to face her sisters. “Please, tell me it’s a _small_ yacht.”

Arianne grinned, “Don’t worry, you and Jaime will still have to share a room.”

Brienne turned bright red as Jaime coughed to hide his laugh, “That is _not_ what I--” But the twins were out of the car before Brienne could say anything more. “Ugg, sisters,” she grumbled.

Jaime grinned, “Tell me about it.”

The yacht ended up being a reasonable enough size, even though it was still a _yacht,_ and they were out of the marina within the hour. Selwyn didn’t sail them too far away; they didn’t go past Morne and the lights of town could still be seen in the distance, but it was still like they were alone in the world.

They all cobbled together a dinner of cold cut sandwiches and washed them down with the last bottles of beer they had, before they all changed into their pajamas. “Jaime makes great hot chocolate,” Brienne gloated, and suddenly he was making hot chocolate for six over a little stove with Brienne as his sous chef.

“This was just your way of getting hot chocolate for yourself,” he teased as the chocolate melted.

“It’s been days,” Brienne whined.

Jaime laughed. “You’re an addict,” he said and gave her the first mug.

All of the Tarths ended up enjoying his chocolate, although none to the degree that Brienne did, and after an hour of talking, Galladon said, “We should get to sleep early so that you’ll be up for Sunrise.”

“Yes, _dad_ ,” teased the twins and skipped off to their room. Galladon stuck his tongue out at them. Brienne snorted loudly, and in response Galladon shoved her down the hall towards the cabins.

Somehow, Jaime found himself in the galley with just Selwyn.

“Isn’t it nice to have someone get stuff off the top shelf for you?” he asked.

Jaime looked down and opened his mouth to try and respond. He was shorter than the rest of the Tarths, but he was still taller than six feet.

Selwyn just hummed happily, before continuing, “I used to always ask Brienne’s mother to grab things for me. Gave me a moment to appreciate the finer things in life.” He stood up and stretched. “Goodnight, Jaime.”

“Um… Goodnight…” Jaime stumbled back to his cabin room in a bit of a daze and flopped onto the bed beside Brienne.

Brienne poked him. “I heard you talking to my dad. Did he say anything strange?”

Jaime turned his head to look over at her with an expression that was partly confused, but mostly scandalized. “Yeah um… I think… your dad just encouraged me to stare at your ass.”

Brienne didn’t say anything for a moment, and Jaime wondered if she was going to smack him, or maybe go and give her dad a stern talking to; but instead she turned towards him and whispered, “While I reached for things?”

“Yeah, exactly,” Jaime said and shifted to fully face her too. “Is that another weird islander thing?”

“No… that’s… my dad talked about my mom to you?”

“Uh… yeah…”

“Oh… oh wow, he must…” she gave him a small smile and reached for his hand in the dark, squeezing it when she found it tucked between their faces. “He must really like you.”

* * *

They all sat together on the bow of the yacht, huddled in the darkness. “That’s the evening star,” Brienne said, pointing at a steady twinkling light in the sky. “It heralds the morning.”

Before they saw the sun, they saw its light coming up over the horizon. Jaime blinked because his eyes had to quickly readjust as the light grew and grew and grew, the black giving way to lighter and lighter shades of blue. Suddenly, he could see rays burst forth as the leading edge of the sun peeked out from below the water and the sky turned a magnificent pink, then yellow. A stream of fire almost seemed to pour over the ocean as the light reflected off the waves.

Jaime felt his jaw drop at the sight. It was one thing, seeing the sun set over the water. Another thing entirely seeing it rise. Beside him, Brienne squeezed his hand. He squeezed it back.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to LewisPanda and Nire for betaing and cheering me on and holding my hand. Most special thanks to Slips for organizing this most chilly of Chillfests (and also preventing me from like going off the deep end of not being chill)! I hope that you have enjoyed this gift Brynn! ❤️🥰❤️😘❤️

“Jellyfish,” Jaime shouted happily from the balcony. “Lionell says it’s going to snow tonight.”

“Tell Lionell he can’t detect snow any better than he can detect rain!” Brienne shouted from inside the apartment.

Jaime tapped the lion weather vane. It made a high clear sound as it spun lazily from its place, positioned on the corner of the balcony. That was when a fluffy, white puff of snow landed on his hand and Jaime grinned. “Lionell says it’s starting to snow right now!”

Brienne came up behind him and leaned against the door frame leading out to their balcony. “Does Lionell say it’s snowing or does Jaime say it’s snowing?”

Jaime continued to grin and turned around to face Brienne. “Definitely Lionell.”

Brienne rolled her eyes and smiled at him fondly. “Come inside, you’re going to freeze.”

Not wanting to put up a big fight, and because his toes were indeed starting to get very cold, Jaime popped back into the two-bedroom apartment. Inside, the scent of freshly baked bread and spicy Dornish stew assaulted his senses. “Did you peek into the slow cooker?”

Brienne’s blush was blotchy as she slid the glass door closed a little too carefully, a little too slowly, and definitely with too much control. “No…”

“Good to know some things never change.”

Brienne turned around and frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Jaime collapsed onto the couch and wrapped the old blanket Brienne had given him, now years ago, around his shoulders. “You’re still a horrible liar, Jellyfish.” He patted the seat right next to him, and although she gave him an unimpressed glare, she sat down and pulled her own very lush wool blanket over her lap. He had given it to her as a housewarming gift a couple months ago and it was well-loved.

After graduating from Riverrun, there had been a couple weeks of uncertainty where they had danced around each other and their future plans, before both of them had gotten job offers in the area. It hadn’t taken them long after that celebratory night to get on the same brain wave and decide to move out of the shared house together. It had taken another couple of weeks, but then they had found a beautiful sixth floor apartment in the suburbs of the Quiet Isle and had been living alone together since.

Jaime’s head found its way onto Brienne’s shoulder. “Hey…” his voice was quiet and a little croaky. “What are your plans for the Long Night this year?”

Brienne wrung her hands nervously and bit her bottom lip. “Um… well…”

“Cause I was thinking--”

“I was hoping to--”

“That we should spend it here--”

“Spend it here--”

“Together.”

“With you.”

Jaime lifted his head and Brienne turned hers. Their eyes met. “Tyrion’s going to kill me,” he said, his smile nearly splitting his face.

“Dad’s going to be really disappointed,” Brienne said, grinning.

“Should we delay telling them for as long as possible, then?” Jaime asked and nuzzled into her shoulder.

Brienne rolled her eyes. “You can. I’m going to call my dad right after dinner.”

“Which will now be ten minutes later because you peeked into the stew,” he teased.

Brienne shoved him. “Shut up!”

* * *

Although Brienne was trying her best to stay focused on her laptop, it was hard when Jaime wanted to get her attention. First, he stood just out of her peripheral vision, fidgeting obnoxiously. Then, he plopped down next to her on the couch with enough force that she bounced up and down. When even that did not deter her, he leaned in close to her cheek and puffed air in her ear, “Jellyfish.”

“Is it six yet?”

“It’s five fifty five,” he whined. Her continued concentration was all the reply she gave him. “Jellyfish,” he puffed again in her ear, the hair around her temple tickling the shell. “You’re off the clock. Stop working and pay attention to me.”

Although she had now finished composing her email, she knew she had to continue looking like she was ruminating over her vocabulary choices for four more minutes, or else Jaime would take it as a win and never leave her alone. Not that he ever really left her alone anyways.

“I know you’re done, I can see it in the shape of your lips. Your scowl of concentration has turned into a pout of stubbornness.”

Three minutes. She hit send and scrolled through her inbox to make sure she hadn’t missed any messages. She hadn’t.

“I can see you wasting time.”

Perhaps she could send her assistant another email, thanking him for the gifts he had gotten her for the holidays. But then perhaps that would imply that there was an expectation that he should be checking his emails after work.

“The mug of hot chocolate I made you is getting cold.”

Two minutes left? Fuck it. She set her laptop down on the coffee table. “Give me.” She looked over at him and reeled back in surprise. “What the _fuck_?”

Jaime smirked. “That was more dramatic of a reaction than I was expecting.”

“Take them off,” Brienne demanded.

Jaime frowned. “What? You don’t like them?”

Brienne covered her eyes. “Take them off your face,” she whined.

“Is it the tortoise shell pattern?” He sounded genuinely confused and a little bit hurt. He reached up to touch the frame.

“Jaime,” she snapped, peeking between her fingers and then hiding away again. “You wearing those should be a crime. Take. Them. Off.”

“Ohhhhhh,” Jaime grinned gleefully, dragging on the sound for far too long. He crawled up closer to her and hovered obnoxiously. His face was very close to her face. “So you like them. They look _goooood_ on me.”

Brienne flushed and leaned back. “No, they look horrible. Take. Them. Off!”

“Then you’re trying to movie magic me?” Jaime pouted teasingly, pressing back closer, “That’s cruel, they’re a medical device, Jellyfish.”

“Shut up!” Brienne fumed and turned to shoving at him. Jaime tried to defend himself with flailing hands, but Brienne was still a bit hysterical at the sight. “You know you look great in them! You could walk around in a paper bag and suddenly it would be _la mode chic_ \--”

Jaime burst out laughing as Brienne practically pinned him onto the couch in her attempt to wrestle the glasses he was wearing off of his face. “ _What_? Do you want me to go buy a big paper bag?”

“NO!”

Jaime laughed even harder. “Okay, okay. I’ll take them off.” He plucked the spectacles off and Brienne nodded in satisfaction. “Good to note there’s actually something out there that distracts you from hot chocolate.”

“Hot chocolate!” Brienne scrambled off of his lap and went for the mug, now not quite steamy hot, but still delicious all the same.

“Now that you’re paying attention to me,” Jaime said, waving the glasses around. Brienne followed them with her eyes, somewhat in fear that he would put them back on. “What did your dad say about our Long Night plans? Will he send out a brigade to carry you back to the Sapphire Isle?”

Her eyebrows furrowed, “He was… he was quite unsurprised? Well, no… that’s not quite true.”

“What happened?”

“Well, I told him that I wanted to spend the Long Night at our place this year. And he was like” -- Brienne lowered her voice and thickened her Stormlands accent -- “‘I had guessed that would be the case.’ Then I told him that he didn’t need to worry because you would be staying too and he just… how to describe the tone he used…” Brienne muttered.

“Scandalized? I mean, he does know we have lived together for like, three and a half years, right? Three days being alone together in the darkness isn’t going to suddenly turn us into feral lust filled beasts,” Jaime laughed. Brienne went bright red. He put his glasses back on. “Though it seems like these might.”

Brienne glared at him, though her cheeks were even more crimson than before, and plucked his glasses right off again. “Scandalized would be the opposite of what he sounded like. More like, ‘yes, stupid, I know’, but you know... in a nice fatherly way. My dad’s version of fatherly, not your father’s version of fatherly,” she attempted to explain. Jaime pawed at Brienne in an attempt to get his glasses back. “Watch the hot chocolate!”

Jaime continued to crawl on top of her, completely undeterred. He looked down at her once he was in her lap. “Maybe he just thought it was obvious we were going to spend the Long Night together, because we’re… well… you know… us?”

Brienne frowned as she held the glasses far out of his reach. “Maybe.” She took a sip of her hot chocolate.

* * *

“Don’t be angry with me,” Jaime said on his phone. Brienne sat on the couch, her arms crossed on the back and her chin cradled between them as she stared at him leaning against the kitchen bar. “But the reason I’m not there is because I’m going to be spending the Long Night in Riverrun this year.” Pause. “I don’t have a girlfriend.” Pause. “No? She’s sitting on the couch right now?” Jaime looked over at her with a mildly confused look. “Uh… yeah, sure, I’ll put you on speakerphone.”

“So let me get this straight. You two aren’t in a relationship?” Tyrion asked bluntly, his voice tinny from the speakers.

“Um… no?” Jaime replied.

“That doesn’t sound like a sure answer.”

Brienne was the one to clarify. “Well, it's more that we’re confused why you’d even think that.”

“Why I’d even-- _Seven save me from these two idiots_. You came to the Rock as Jaime’s girlfriend two years ago!”

“That was two years ago!” Brienne protested.

Jaime growled, “You knew father was trying to set me up with someone.”

“Truly a terrible fate, and I _could have_ believed it had been a one off, but then last year you went to the Sapphire Isle!”

“So?” Jaime shouted.

“So, tell me you didn’t go as her boyfriend. Tell me and I will forgo alcohol for the next year. You know what, I will forgo alcohol _and_ sex for the next _decade_.”

“How did you know that?” Brienne asked quietly.

“Jaime might have muted our father on WhiteBook, but I am no fool. And I didn’t think you were either, but here we are. If even one of the two of you had a single brain cell, you two would have known that father and Selwyn friended each other over a year ago, and according to both of them, your wedding is imminent. IM-MIN-ENT. And that’s just the PG stuff that they have been talking about.”

Both Jaime and Brienne went pale and Jaime stumbled over to the back of the couch with his phone. “There is no _non-PG_ stuff to share!” Brienne shouted, rising to her knees on the cushions so she could be the same height as Jaime.

“Well, not according to them! And who am I going to trust? You two idiots or two scheming old men? Considering that neither of you knew that you’ve been giving the impression of two people dating for over two years, it’s apparently the old men!”

“ _Over_ two years?” Jaime exclaimed.

Tyrion’s voice was exasperated and they could practically hear the roll of his eyes, "Honestly Jaime, didn't you wonder, for even a moment, why no one was surprised when you showed up with Brienne that first year? Well, no one but maybe father, but even then I think he sort of guessed."

Jaime just gave Brienne a wide eyed stare. “Uh…”

“What about the past year, then?” Brienne protested.

“ _What about the past year?_ Do you know what you two did in the past year?” Before either of them could reply, Tyrion barreled on, “You two moved in together. Just you two. And have you seen your apartment? Like, actually seen it? From the pics, I couldn’t tell your rooms apart, or which shelf in the kitchen belonged to whom! It’s not the apartment of two roommates, not unless your relationships with Elia and Kyle--”

Brienne huffed in annoyance. “Hyle, dammit Jaime!”

He shrugged. “What can I say?”

“Not unless your relationships with Elia and _Hyle_ were a lot more intimate than I thought they were and you’re just used to sharing _everything_.”

Jaime made a face of disgust. “No one in the house was intimate with Hyle.”

“Not the point, you asshole,” Tyrion shouted.

“Elia did her own thing,” Brienne murmured.

“Am I making my point clear to you two clouds-for-brains yet?”

Brienne asked quietly, “Is this… is this why my dad was so unsurprised when I told him I’d be spending the Long Night here this year?”

Tyrion snorted. “Do you want to know what Selwyn had to say about that? There are several posts. Your siblings seem to think they are hilarious.”

Brienne grimaced. “No.”

“Good choice,” Tyrion grumbled. “Honestly, love makes such smart people so dumb sometimes.”

“Love?” They both intoned at the same time.

Tyrion huffed in exasperation, "Well, what the hell did you think it was between the two of you, if it wasn't love?" The next thing Tyrion muttered was more to himself than to the others, “And to think that I was trying to emulate their relationship when they didn’t even think they were in one. Fucking Crone’s tits.”

Jaime looked over at Brienne and opened his mouth. No words came out. He closed it. He swallowed and his eyes flickered over every familiar feature of her.

The colour of her eyes was his favourite shade of blue; they were far more beautiful than the waters of the Sapphire Isle. The sheen of her hair, blonde, but near silver, and the way that it wasn’t ever quite soft between his fingers. The crook of her nose, the length of her limbs, the callouses on her hands, and the taper of her toes and fingers. The freckles. Gods, the freckles that were splashed on the canvas of her smooth, pale skin.

But it wasn’t just about how she looked. It was about how she made him feel. How he always went to her when he was stressed, or lonely, or cold - when he was happy, or excited, or had something new to share.

When he wanted _someone_ , he really just wanted _her_.

Jaime opened his mouth and tried again, "I don't know... I just thought…" Jaime started to move his hands as though he was shaping something, trying to mold his feelings into a word. "I just thought it was--” he looked back up at her, “ _Brienne_."

Brienne reached over and plucked his phone from his grip. “He’ll call you back later.”

“Uh-huh, I highly doubt that,” Tyrion said, and then Brienne ended the call.

She swallowed, dropped the phone on the cushions next to her, then repeated nervously, “I just thought it was Brienne?”

“I…” Jaime tried to explain and sat down on the couch beside her. He turned his body to face her and reached out for her hands to hold them his. “Is… is what I feel for you love? Love doesn’t feel like it’s quite enough to describe it.”

Brienne looked down at her lap and then took in a deep breath. “Whatever you are feeling… Is it... is it sweet and warm?” she asked softly, “When you see me, do you feel that maybe everything will be okay? Do you know that you can be yourself with me, whether it is when we’re bickering and moving at a fast pace, or when we’re silent and just lying side by side? Do you want to share everything with me? Your oranges in the morning, your time in the day, the thoughts in your head, the moments of your life?”

Jaime heart thumped in his chest and he reached out a hand to grasp one of hers. “Yes. Yes, yes, yes.”

She turned her hand in his grip and entwined their fingers. “Jaime… if… if _this_ is love, then I think I might have been in love with you for a long time. If this is love, it’s big enough, I think.”

A large smile spread across Jaime’s face and he leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers. “Then I’ve been in love with you a long time too, Jellyfish.”

Brienne laughed. “I cannot believe you’re calling me Jellyfish now of all times.”

He cupped her face with her other hand. “Because that’s how long I’ve loved you.”

* * *

“I’m surprised no one else is on the roof,” Brienne said.

“There’s a family around that corner and another couple around that corner,” Jaime pointed out.

“I meant, I just thought that we would have to fight for space.”

“Well, I for one am very glad that you were wrong.”

Brienne rolled her eyes as Jaime first laid out a tarp and then a blanket on top of it against one of the walls and settled a couple cushions against the dry brick. Brienne added the rest of the blankets to their little nest. They would be needing them; the snow that Lionell had predicted a couple days ago was still on the ground and the cold was still in the air. Jaime slipped off his boots and dived into the blankets where he quickly pulled out a thermos full of hot chocolate. “Hurry up, I’m freezing,” he complained as he lifted the blanket for her. Brienne laughed and crawled in beside him after taking her own boots off.

As always, Jaime plastered himself to her side while he poured out the hot chocolate, still tasty even without the marshmallows, dark chocolate flakes, or cinnamon, and handed her the first cup. He then poured himself one and set the thermos aside. “This is my first time celebrating the Long Night… well, anything actually, with just one other person,” Brienne admitted shyly, staring down into her cup.

“Same,” Jaime said, turning towards her. “I’m glad it’s with you.”

A smile bloomed on Brienne’s face. “Me too,” she agreed and looked over at him.

She took in a sharp breath when she saw the way that he was looking at her.

“Hey,” he rasped.

“Hey…”

“Can I kiss you?”

“Um…” Brienne murmured, her cheeks flushing red for reasons other than the cold.

Jaime’s fingertips lightly pressed into her cheek and he leaned forward. “Gods, it’s just that smile.”

Brienne huffed in amusement and met his eyes. They were so close. Closer than they’d ever been before, and that was saying something. “You’ve never wanted to kiss it before.”

He snorted. “That’s categorically untrue.”

She felt his breath, warm on her lips. “Is it now? You didn’t even know you were in love with me until yesterday.”

He smirked. “So you’ve never thought about kissing me?”

“Well…” She’d thought about wiping that smirk off his face many times and in many, _many_ different ways. “There was a time I did wonder if you still slobbered.”

“I really wish you would forget that.”

“Never.”

“Did you ever imagine I would be a _good_ kisser?” Jaime swiftly got back to their original topic.

“No.”

Jaime clicked his tongue. “Remember, Jellyfish. You’re a horrible liar.”

Brienne closed the gap between them.

Jaime was a pretty good kisser.

But so was she.

They completely missed Sunset.

* * *

They crashed into their apartment door. “Ow, fuck, door knob! Door knob in the ass!” Jaime cursed.

“Get your keys,” Brienne said as she kissed a line down his jaw, one of her hands running down his chest.

Jaime clawed at his pockets fruitlessly. “You’re being awfully distracting!”

“Maybe three days of darkness will turn us into feral, lust-filled beasts after all,” Brienne teased, licking down the tendon of Jaime’s neck. He rattled at the door knob in desperation. “That’s not how locks work, Jaime.”

“Says the woman who broke my lock in second year.”

She laughed and nibbled at his collarbone. “Just hurry up!”

“Fuck, you open the door while I’m feeling you up, then,” Jaime growled and span them around so that Brienne’s front was pressed up against the door, his chest all along her back. He pressed kisses to the back of her neck and his hands crawled under her shirt and flattened against her toned stomach, pulling her hard against him. She felt him, pressed against her ass, and wiggled just to hear him groan.

At the long, drawn out sound in her ear, Brienne made a frustrated noise as she palmed Jaime’s pockets and found his keys. Quickly, she popped it into the lock and they spilled into their apartment. The blankets, cushions, and bags they had somehow been juggling tumbled to the floor as Jaime kicked the door shut and locked it.

They both tugged off their boots and then came back together. “Fuck, I always forget that you’re ridiculously capable under pressure,” he muttered as he wrapped his arms around her and pressed his lips back against hers.

Brienne moaned in response and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, tugging him in closer as her tongue swept across his. “Bedroom?” she asked, pulling away for just a moment.

“Mine or yours?”

Brienne grinned. “Has there ever been a difference? After all, it seems like we’re pretty intimate.” They had spent so much time sleeping in each other’s beds that there hadn’t really been a delineation since the beginning.

He chuckled. “You’ve been just as stupid as I have!”

“I’m not saying I haven’t,” Brienne said and tugged at his sweater. Jaime followed her direction and she took the opportunity to drag the garment over his head. Her fingers skittered over the planes of his chest as they moved away from the door and around the pile of things they had discarded.

He inhaled sharply at the sensation of her touch and nipped her earlobe as he rucked her sweater up the long expanse of her back. “Gods, we definitely should have started doing this earlier. Three, no, fuck it, four years earlier in fact.” He threw her sweater off as well.

“Not going to argue against that, but then we’d definitely would have had to have been in my room.” They crashed into the coffee table and Jaime yanked her around it and maneuvered them around the couch.

“I would not have given a shit if Hyle walked in on us.”

Brienne rolled her eyes. “What about poor Elia? Or, if we’re going with four years, your roommate Addam?”

“Let’s be honest, if our dads and Tyrion thought we were dating, and they didn’t even have to deal with us on a daily basis…” Jaime guided them into his bedroom.

“Seven…”

“No more talking about Hyle or our dads tonight,” Jaime declared as they both hit the foot of his bed and fell onto the mattress. “There are much better things to do in the darkness.”

Brienne suddenly went rigid beneath him and he stared at her in concern.

“Hey… you okay? We don’t have to do anything you aren’t comfortable with, you know?”

Brienne lifted her head and kissed him sweetly. “That’s not it at all. Do you have condoms?”

Jaime paused and then sat up on his knees. “I’ll run to the shops.”

“It’s the Long Night. The shops are all _closed_.”

“Tyrion’s been to visit, right?”

She looked at him in confusion. “Yes?”

Jaime scrambled off the bed and disappeared back into the living room. She heard him crash into a few things and curse loudly, but he was back a moment later with a ringing phone. Tyrion answered. “I didn’t actually think you would call me back today.”

“Where did you hide the condoms?” Jaime asked.

“What?” Brienne mouthed at him while sitting up. She reached over to turn on his bedside lamp.

He waved a hand at her. “The condoms you always try to sneak past me every time you visit.” At least now Jaime understood _why_ Tyrion thought he had such a need for so many prophylactics.

“Wow, it’s taken you two this long?” Tyrion cackled. “Thought you two would have gone at it the moment Brienne hung up.”

“Just… stop stalling.”

“Tucked behind your textbooks. I told you, you’d never open them again.”

Jaime walked over to his book shelf. “Thanks.”

“Happy fucking.”

With that Jaime hung up his phone and began to dig through his text books. “Gods, I hope he didn’t get me the novelty ones this time,” he muttered, pulling out a box then staring at it. “Seven hells, fucking Tyrion.”

“What is it?” Brienne asked.

“Not the worst,” Jaime muttered, and tossed her the box. “But certainly not the best.”

“Drogons™. Scaled for your pleasure. Warming sensations…” she muttered. “Well… why not?” She ripped upon the cardboard packaging, grabbed a handful of condoms, and tossed them onto Jaime’s nightstand before discarding the box over the side of the bed.

Jaime quirked an eyebrow in amused fondness. “I think this is the messiest I’ve ever seen you.”

Brienne flushed. “Did you not want to do this?”

“That is not at all what I said.” He moved to stand in front of her and she looked up at him with her big, blue eyes. He brought his hand to her face and his thumb stroked across the apple of her cheek. Leaning down, he kissed her gently, moving his lips against hers just to feel the warm rush of happiness that she brought him. After a moment, a million, he pulled away, both of his hands now on her neck. “Gods, Brienne.”

“Brienne?” she questioned, her hands cupping his jaw, her eyes half closed, a smile on her face.

Jaime smiled. “Yes. _Brienne_. Lovely, willful Brienne.” Then, he dropped to his knees and his fingers found their way under the waistband of her thick, winter leggings. She laid back on his mattress and lifted her hips so that he could pull her leggings, her underwear, and her socks off all at once. “Gods, you really are freckled everywhere. It’ll take me forever to get to all of them individually.”

“Jaime!” Brienne berated him and lifted herself up on her elbows.

He cupped the underside of her knee and pressed his lips to the inside of her thigh, right close to where his fingers curled. “And that suits me just fine.” He kissed and nibbled his way up the long expanse of her leg, taking his time when he found spots that were particularly sensitive. Before long, Brienne couldn’t hold herself up anymore and flopped back on the bed, shivering. His other hand massaged the muscles of her other thigh, working itself up towards her faster than his mouth was, and so his fingers were the first to feel how wet she had become. “I want to make you scream,” he growled while looking up the length of her body.

“What about our neighbours?” Brienne asked in challenge.

“Soundproof walls,” Jaime reminded her.

She squirmed and bucked towards him. “Do it then.”

He grinned and met her halfway. He worked his fingers into her one at a time, slowly, until he had three inside of her, the tight walls of her cunt squeezing down around him like a vice. As he fingered her, curling the tips up until he found the spot that made her quietly cry out, his tongue lavished at her clit and folds, lapping up her arousal. He wanted to worship her, to take his time and bring her to her crest slowly, but it seemed that she had other ideas. Her hands found their way into his hair and tangled within the strands, pulling just short of painful as her wails got louder and louder. He used his teeth, and grazed the bundle of nerves gently. That made her buck and shout, and clamp her thighs around his ears. Never had he heard these kinds of sounds coming from her, and just like so many things about her, he would never get tired of hearing them again and again.

In the end, what got her past the final barrier was his other hand landing on her hip and his nails just lightly scratching over the bone. She arched so high that Jaime lost hold of her, a mistake that he would learn not to repeat the next time - he _would_ have his mouth on her as she came - and she landed on the mattress with a satisfied thump, heaving great breaths of air.

“Did that meet your expectations?” Jaime asked, licking his lips and getting to his feet.

Brienne pushed herself back up onto her elbows, but looked much more ravished than the last time he had seen her at this angle. Her lips were red and swollen from her own teeth biting down on them; her face was flushed and glowing. “Take off your pants, you dork.”

“Very sexy.” Jaime took off his pants, boxer briefs, and socks anyways. Immediately, Brienne sat all the way up and grasped him. He was warm and hard and heavy in the palm of her hand. She slowly slid her hand up and down the length of him, her other hand cupping his balls and massaging them gently. Her eyes flickered over his face, taking in what he liked in her movements. He gasped as her thumb traced across the head of his cock, her callouses brushing against the silky skin. She smiled coyishly as her hands continued to play with him. Jaime placed his hand over hers. “You’re going to need to stop or else I’m going to be done very early in the night.”

“Already?” Brienne teased, her lips dangerously close to the tip, her eyes alluringly bright in the dark.

Jaime growled, “Let’s get that bra off you and I’ll show you ‘already’.”

Brienne shuffled back on the bed and Jaime crawled onto it. Her hands roamed the planes of his waist and hips as he wrapped his arms around her back. Their lips met again and she could taste hints of herself on his tongue. It gave her a shiver of delight. The fingers of one of his hands found the clasp of her bra and he flicked at the hooks.

They didn’t budge.

Brienne continued to kiss at the corner of his lips as Jaime’s eyebrow furrowed. He used both hands to try and undo the clasp. Again, the hooks wouldn’t give. “Having trouble there?” Brienne asked, her fingers brushing over his shoulders and biceps.

“No,” he replied resolutely and tugged at the clasp again. “What is wrong with this thing?”

“Do you need help?”

“I can do this. Just… just turn around.”

She stared at him deadpanned. “You’re not serious.”

He met her gaze. “Dead serious.”

“ _Seven_ ,” Brienne sighed in exasperation, but turned around anyways. Jaime couldn’t help but run his fingertips down the length of her spine, just once, and feel her quiver from his touch, but then he returned to the task at hand.

After a moment of observation, “This isn’t a normal bra.”

“Yes, it is.”

Brienne felt him trying to maneuver the hooks in what felt like the right way. “Liar.”

She couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at her lips at his ridiculousness. “Am I, though?”

Jaime pouted. She wasn’t. He picked at the hooks. “I just haven’t undone one in a while, okay?”

“How long?”

There wasn’t a reply for a while, but then he said, “Since the first semester of first year. Since before we were… since _before_.”

“Oh…” Brienne murmured and tilted her head down. Her hand reached back and patted around until she found his knee. She grasped it and gave it a squeeze. “Me too.”

“Oh,” he repeated. Then continued to be utterly defeated by her bra.

“Jaime, you do know that sex doesn’t necessitate the removal of my bra, right?” Brienne said, resting her chin in her other hand and her elbow on her knee.

“Shush, Jellyfish. I have started something and I must now see it through.” Jaime continued fiddling and cursing under his breath.

Brienne huffed in amusement. “You’re horrendous. My libido is dying as the seconds tick on.”

“I’ll just get it back up again.”

“Confident you can?”

“Very.” He swore he undid something then yanked at the strap again, but still the bra refused to give. He cursed loudly.

Brienne snorted, “Do you need your glasses?”

“How did you know that was how I was going to turn you back on?” Jaime teased and grabbed at his spectacles lying on his nightstand. They did not help him solve the problem any better, and also didn’t do their job of turning her back on since she was still looking away.

Instead, she just laughed.

"Whenever you laugh it just makes me want to kiss you, and that’s very distracting, so you just need to stop laughing." Not unexpectedly, this only made Brienne laugh harder. His lips attacked the back of her neck. "Consequences, Jellyfish! We’ll never get to the sex if you continue on like this!"

“Jaime!” Brienne squeaked in delight. “If _I_ continue on like this?” She tried to turn around as he showered more kisses on her.

“Oh, fuck it,” Jaime laughed and let Brienne turn and shower her own kisses all over his face. After, he gently nudged her to lay back down on the mattress and crawled on top of her. Her eyebrows shot up as Jaime just yanked down the thin, lacy cups. “By the way, this does not mean I admit defeat.”

“You know, _I_ can just take it off.”

“No. I’ve simply decided this is much better. Frames the works of art.”

“Works of art. Honestly, Jaime...” His thumb lightly brushed over one of her nipples and Brienne squeaked in surprise.

“Do you really disagree?” he grinned. “I would love to prove you wrong.”

Brienne blushed, the rosy colour crawling from her cheeks, down her neck, and over her breasts. Jaime stared in fascination before he leaned down and took the other nipple into his mouth to run his tongue roughly over the tip. This time Brienne cried out and arched into him, her fingers tangling into his hair. She wasn’t going to protest.

He palmed her breasts, they fit in his hands quite nicely, and licked and sucked on her nipples, alternating, until they were stiff with want. With his teeth, he bit down gently, and the sound she made was music to his ears. In response to his ministrations, her legs wrapped around his waist. “Condoms,” Jaime choked out when he felt the warm heat of her cunt against his cock.

Her hands reached out to Jaime’s night stand and found one of the condoms. With a bit of brain fog - he was still pressed up against her and it was taking all of her willpower to not just reach down and guide him into her - she managed to rip the packet open and gesture for Jaime to sit up. When he sat back on his haunches, Brienne once again reached for his cock and slowly rolled the condom down its length.

Jaime grimaced. “It definitely feels very warm.”

Brienne looked up at him with a frown, “It also feels very bumpy.”

“Not quite scaled, then?”

“I’m kind of glad that it isn’t?”

“Do you still want to…?” Jaime asked hesitantly.

“We won’t know unless we try?”

“Let me test something,” Jaime said.

“Okay,” Brienne said implicitly.

He grasped the base of his cock and slid it against her like before. Where before the sensation was pleasant, this time it was not. At the expression on her face, he said, “Yeah no, we’re not gonna do this.”

“A hot, bumpy cock not romantic enough for you?” Brienne teased, then, “Seven, take that off before it gets any hotter.” She helped him roll the condom off and tossed it into his trash.

“This whole night has been on the ass end of romantic, hasn’t it?” Jaime muttered, collapsing beside her.

“I don’t mind,” Brienne murmured and rolled into her side, plopping her head on his shoulder. She brushed his hair out of his face. “But I’m not quite as big of a romantic as you.”

Jaime laughed. “I have some standards, and apparently Drogons™ do not meet them.”

Brienne giggled. “Well, back to plan A, then.”

“Plan A?” Jaime asked curiously, but before he even finished his question, Brienne had shuffled down his body and had his cock cradled back in her hand.

She looked up at him and grinned, “Plan A,” she repeated and wrapped her lips around the tip.

* * *

On the first morning of darkness, they woke up still nestled together, their naked bodies tangled under Jaime’s warm blanket. “I’ll make us breakfast?” Brienne whispered and kissed him on the forehead as she slid out of bed.

He hummed in happiness and took the opportunity to sleep in for an extra ten minutes. When he appeared in the kitchen, Brienne was just finishing plating the food, and so he poured two glasses of juice and watered the weirwood tree sitting by the window sill. Overnight, snow had fallen outside, coating the world in a thick layer of white. “Do you think that not having light for three days will affect it?” Jaime asked as he sat down by the table.

“I think it’ll be fine. If it looks worse for wear by the end of the Long Night, we’ll get it a sun lamp for next year.”

“We will, huh?”

Brienne rolled her eyes, “I haven’t managed to get rid of you for four years while we were “friends”. I highly doubt I’ll be getting rid of you now.”

Jaime grinned, “I quite like the sound of that.”

They ate their breakfast before addressing the elephant in the room.

“So… what are we going to do about the condom situation?” Brienne asked while playing with the fingers of Jaime’s hand. They had migrated to the couch and he was sprawled happily on top of her.

“I can go knocking on some of our neighbours’ doors?”

“I’d rather we _not_ advertise to the world that we are now--”

“Lust filled beasts?”

“I was going to say _fucking_ ,” Brienne grinned.

“Scandalous,” Jaime teased.

Her hands grasped his, “I have an IUD and was tested before I got that inserted--”

“Three years ago,” Jaime finished. Brienne nodded. He had been there after and had taken care of her when she had cramped up for days afterwards. “I got tested while I was waiting for you at the clinic.”

“Oh,” Brienne murmured shyly. Her eyes flickered to the bedroom door. “Do you want to…?”

“How about we try again tonight?”

Brienne tilted her head in question, “Tonight? Why tonight?”

“Give me some time to come up with something romantic.”

Brienne grumbled in exasperation, “What are you planning?”

“Hey, I think it’s kind of nice we get two first times, and I would like the second one to not start with a doorknob in the ass.”

“It started with you asking to kiss me because you liked my smile.”

“Love your smile and ooft” -- he grinned -- “It sounds like you have yourself a winner there, Jellyfish.”

She just rolled her eyes again and tweaked him on the nose. “Remember the shops are still closed.”

“I’ll cobble something together.”

* * *

“Jaime, can I come out yet?” Brienne asked from her bedroom. She was hugging Barty, her chin propped on his head.

“Give me a minute!”

She resisted the urge to dramatically claw at her own door. That was something Jaime would do. “It’s not nice, being imprisoned in your own home.”

“It’s only a prison if you think it is.”

“That’s not how it works.”

“Out of all the traits you had to adopt from me, did it have to be my impatience and my smart-assery?”

“Annoying, isn’t it?”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t just make a point against myself.” She heard more clattering outside, then Jaime finally called out to her, “I’m ready!”

Brienne opened her door slowly and saw that the lights in the apartment had been turned off. She turned off her bedroom light as well and saw the dim glow of firelight reflecting on the hallway walls from the living room. Slowly, she made her way there. As she went, soft music suddenly turned on, and when she arrived she saw that Jaime had managed to dig up all of the candles in the apartment and had placed them around the kitchen, dining, and living spaces. The couch and the coffee table had been pushed to the side and up against the wall, and instead, on the floor by the balcony door, was a cozy nest of blankets and pillows that was made out of the things they had discarded by the door the day before. Jaime stood by the kitchen counter holding a tray that had two mugs of steaming hot chocolate on it.

“It thought it would be a bit too wet and cold to sit outside,” Jaime said with a smile and tilted his head towards the pile of blankets. “It’s also not as dark as it is on the Sapphire Isle and we won’t be able to see as much of the sky, but…”

“Jaime, this is perfect,” Brienne said and walked over to him. Her hands rested on his shoulders and she kissed him on the cheek.

He turned his head to kiss her again on the mouth and they smiled at each other. “Your hot chocolate?”

She nodded and took her mug over to the nest. From where she sat she did have a splendid view of the stars. Jaime sat down behind her and wrapped himself around her, his chin on her shoulder.

“Are the constellations up here any different?” Jaime asked.

“They are shifted a bit, so there might be a couple different ones on the horizon,” Brienne explained. “If we were to go to Winterfell, they would be shifted a lot more, the Three-Eyed Raven would probably be at the zenith there during the Long Night.”

“I quite prefer the Moon Maid.”

* * *

Their second first time was everything their first first time was not. It was slow and almost graceful, less frantic with desperate energy. They took the time to explore each other’s bodies as they peeled each other’s clothes off piece by piece. To Jaime’s chagrin, he soon found out that Brienne hadn’t dared to put on a bra that morning.

After, this time, coming on his tongue - the stars as witnesses to his eager worship - Brienne flipped them and sat astride his hips. She wrapped her hands around his cock and felt the reverberations of his groans beneath the palm of her other hand. With slow deliberation, she sank down onto him, reveling in his every expression as she took him into herself. Her fingers found their way to his lips, and he kissed the pads and nipped at the skin. The soft feel of his lips, in contrast to the hard bite of his teeth, sent her reeling, surging up against him. Once their hips were flush, his hands found her waist, and her nails scratched lightly at his torso. “Fuck,” he murmured as he looked up into her eyes. “Fuck,” he said again, his thumbs stroking at her lowest ribs.

Brienne rocked her hips and felt his heart thrum beneath the palms of her hands. Her heart was beating at a mile a minute too; she could hear it in the way her blood was rushing through her ears. “Jaime,” she gasped desperately.

He grunted in pleasure as she rode him. They met each other stroke for stroke, their bodies moving against each other in ways that were so familiar and yet so utterly novel.

Soon, he couldn’t help but lever himself up so that he could hold her tight in his arms as she rose and fell above him. She grasped onto him desperately, and her legs wrapped themselves around his waist. Jaime buried his hand into her hair and his face pressed into the crook of her neck. He breathed her in and nuzzled in closer.

But she wanted more. She squeezed her legs around him further and dug her fingers into his shoulder blades. She pressed her lips to his neck and felt him deep within her. They moved against each other, frantic. Just when she felt that she could go no higher, his thumb found her clit. He brought her to completion again and the way she tightened around him - her cunt, her body - sent him careening off the edge into bliss.

After, when they were curled back up together in her bed, Jaime’s face tucked in the hollow of Brienne’s throat, he hummed contentedly, “I love you.”

She ran her hands through his hair. “I love you too.”

* * *

On the second and third day of darkness, they spent their time together as they had planned to do before Tyrion had made them confront the reality of their truth. It was just that now, some of those moments together were spent naked and were more lust filled than others before.

They went on walks in the local park, lit only by colourful lanterns; hung out by the river, where small gatherings of people were celebrating the Long Night around small fires; frolicked together in the snow, lobbing snowballs at each other with zero abandon. They held hands as they walked, a habit they had developed around the first Long Night they had spent together at the Rock, and created new habits, like stealing a kiss from the other when they were least expecting it.

Then they went _home_.

Inside, they played games together, cooked, and cleaned, but also just continued to sit beside each other in comfortable silence - well, as silent as Jaime could get - as they each did their own things. At one point, Jaime had called Tyrion back to _not_ thank him for the condoms, but also to ask him how his Long Night was going. Tyrion had just shrugged and told him that as far as he was concerned, all was well. He had brought Tysha back to the Rock; no one had a clue what her name was either, but at least they had all acknowledged her as Tyrion’s girlfriend. Although Jaime hadn’t asked, he had explicitly told them that he hadn’t even mentioned how stupid they were to anyone in the family because he knew that _he_ would be the one to be accused of being an idiot or a liar.

They unmuted their fathers on WhiteBook and then muted them again less than five minutes later. It was better to be ignorant than to know the kind of friendship that Tywin and Selwyn had struck up, and just how much they shared with each other, and the world, about their children’s personal lives. Thankfully, much of it was superfluous, but it was still much too confronting to see their dads be overly invested on social media.

* * *

“Hot chocolate for the Jellyfish,” Jaime said and passed her a mug.

“You’re absurd,” Brienne muttered, but took it anyways.

He wrapped a scarf around her neck while also pressing kisses to it. “And you're covered in hickeys,” he said quite smugly.

Brienne sipped her hot chocolate, “Whose fault is that?”

Jaime closed the balcony door behind him and then pressed up against her side. “I’m also covered in hickeys,” he said, somehow sounding even more smug.

She gave him a small, sly smile, “Something’s in the air, I suppose.”

Jaime laughed with a snort, then nuzzled her temple with his nose, “Are you sure you’re warm enough?”

“You’re the one who is always cold.”

“Which is why I’m wearing about three more layers than you are.”

“I’m surprised that you were able to muster up the energy to get up and get changed.”

“Hey,” Jaime murmured softly, and brushed a lock of hair out of her face. She met his eyes and saw that they were practically sparkling. “I plan to see every Sunrise with you.”

Light rose over the horizon, breaking the darkness.


End file.
